Revelations
by J-James
Summary: **EPILOGUE UPLOADED** While on the trail of a mad bomber, the team learns about Frank's personal life.....maybe it's more than they wanted to know.
1. Getting to know you

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Revelations

Chapter One

By J-James

This story is rated PG-13

The characters of Frank Donovan, Jake Shaw, Alex Cross, Monica Davis and Cody Forester are the property of Shane Salerno, Don Winslow and NBC Entertainment. No copyright infringement intended. All other characters are the property of the author.

Frank Donovan edged his way slowly through the abandoned parking garage. Every noise and clatter echoed endlessly through the cavernous building making it almost impossible to locate the source of any sound. As quietly as possible he slowly maneuvered himself around the endless rows of cars. He was aware that anything that he heard could very well be coming from his fellow agents, as Alex and Jake were also searching, just on different floors. The case that he and his team had been working on for weeks had led to this very situation. A police telephone hotline had received information, credible information, leading them to their prey. If they were lucky, they'd be able to take the man in with little or no difficulty.

As he rounded yet another row of deserted automobiles, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. _Why do we always assume that the person we're after is a man? _he thought idly. True, the profile seemed to point to the fact that they were probably searching for a man, but somehow when violent acts were involved, the assumption was always that a man was responsible. He remembered the discussion that he'd had with Monica just days earlier about the very same subject. She'd spelled out the facts for him, as only a profiler can. _Men react in physical terms_, she told him, _women in cerebral terms_. Shaking his head, Frank worked at regaining his focus. He hadn't necessarily disagreed with her, he just thought it was interesting that everyone always assumed the gender of a psychotic mind. And a psychotic wacko was definitely what they were after now. Letting his mind wander, Frank began to relive what had happened over the past 60 days.

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Over 2 months ago, he and his team had been called in on a case involving a serial bomber. The attacks had been random, and at first the police had believed that different people had been responsible for the acts, since dissimilar devices had been used. But after the 4th bomb went off in the space of just one month, the police decided that they might be in over their heads and phoned the FBI. And soon after that, Frank had gotten the call.

They'd spent the better part of a week just studying the crime scenes and any physical evidence that the police and fire investigators had been able to find. The devices used had indeed been different, and not only that, but the propellants used had been dissimilar as well. 

One of the bombs had been placed in a neighborhood mailbox. That explosion had been relatively small. It had managed to take out the mailbox and a small portion of the owner's yard, but no one had been hurt. 

The second, had been placed in a dumpster behind a downtown restaurant. The explosion on that one had caused significant damage, not only destroying the container in which it was hidden but also a good portion of the back of the building. Once again, no lives had been lost, but a few of the restaurant workers had been injured by flying debris. 

The third had been hidden in a bus stop shelter, and this time not only had there been injuries, but two people had lost their lives as a result. The other chilling aspect of that particular incident was that the device used had been radio controlled, meaning that the bomber had to have been in range of the bomb when he had detonated it. He had purposely waited until the bus stop was crowded before pushing the button to blow the explosives.

The fourth explosion had taken place close to a neighborhood playground. Luckily no one was killed or injured in that precise instant, but the thought of what could have happened left the residents in the area in a panic. That was when the local police decided that they'd need help catching this maniac.

The playground bombing had occurred nearly a month and a half ago, and their man had hardly been idle in all that time. In fact, he'd escalated his efforts. His tenth escapade had been broadcast on the evening news just last night. A bomb had gone off in a high school not too far from where Frank lived, hitting, literally, too close to home for Frank's comfort. It was shortly after that broadcast, that the police hotline had received a call from someone claiming to have seen suspicious activity in their neighborhood. A man living across the street had been coming and going at odd hours of the day and night and seemed to be spending an awful lot of time in his garage with the door shut even though it was the middle of the sweltering summer. 

The police immediately called Frank's team and they took it from there. After interviewing the caller, they'd obtained a warrant to search the man's premises. By the time he and his team had arrived, the place was deserted. Warrant in hand, they busted down the door and proceeded with their search. What they found was more than incriminating, pieces of wiring…..tools needed to construct delicate machinery……a soldering gun……..a large table top magnifying glass…….timers of various shapes, sizes and accuracies…….and even a few sticks of dynamite. For someone who had successfully eluded the law for some time, the man had openly left what could only be considered prime evidence. _What's the catch_? Frank thought to himself. It had all been found too easily. 

As Frank and his team had meandered through the man's house, the hair on Frank's neck began to stand up. Something wasn't right……in fact something was dreadfully wrong. He knew it, but for the life of him he didn't know exactly what it was. The longer they were in the house, the worse the feeling became. Suddenly Frank turned toward the steps leading to the downstairs. Alex and Jake had descended those steps just moments before.

"Jake! Alex! We're leaving NOW!!!" Frank yelled. 

From the lower level, the two agents looked at each other curiously. They'd never heard their boss yell that way before, but what was even more unnerving, they'd never heard that tone in his voice…..a tone that could only be interpreted as……..panic? Just as Jake was about to ask why he wanted them to leave, Frank added…….

"And whatever you do…… DO NOT use your radios or cell phones!!!!!" Alex and Jake understood immediately, and their eyes flew open at the realization. The house could be booby-trapped and if so any sort of radio controlled signal could set off whatever the bomber had left for them. The two headed cautiously but quickly to the stairs, looking left and right as they did so. After ascending to the main floor, they followed Frank and quickly exited the house just as they had entered. It wasn't until the three were a good hundred feet or so away from the structure, that Frank began to calm down. When he was sure that they were a safe distance away, he pulled out his cell phone and called the bomb squad. The crew was, in fact, already on their way, but he wanted to let them know what they might be up against.

Approximately an hour and a half later the leader of the bomb squad emerged from the house still in his blast gear. He approached Frank and his team as they leaned against one of the PD's vehicles. The man stopped when he reached the group, taking his protective helmet off in the process.

"Frank……..good to see you again," the man began, "I just wish it could be under better circumstances."

"Brian……..any circumstance when nothing actually explodes is pretty good in my book."

The man laughed and nodded. "Can't argue with that reasoning."

"So…….what'd you find? Anything? Or am I just getting paranoid in my old age?"

"Paranoid?? Hardly. If anything, you're cautious, and in your line of work, that's a good thing. Now as for what I found……..let's just say that it was a very good thing that you and your crew here got out when they did. Let me ask first…….did anyone go downstairs?"

"We did," Jake piped in, motioning with his hand to himself and Alex. "Why?"

"How far did you get before your boss here pulled you out?"

"We were only down there for a few minutes," Alex answered. "We were still searching the main room when Frank called down and said that we were leaving immediately." She eyed the man curiously and felt her skin break out in gooseflesh. Somehow she knew that whatever he was going to tell them would probably give her a few sleepless nights as a result.

"Did either of you notice a set of two doors on one wall?"

"Yeah…..we did. In fact I had my hand on one of the doorknobs when Frank yelled for us," Jake replied this time.

Brian glanced briefly at Frank before continuing. "Let's suffice it to say that your boss here has great instincts. If you'd turned either knob, the house would have gone up and left a nice 20 foot crater in it's place."

Alex and Jake looked stunned and both noticeably paled. They just continued staring at the man before them, not knowing what to say. Jake walked away from the other three, and for more than a few moments felt like he was very close to losing the contents of his stomach. He'd had his hand on that doorknob, and when Frank had called down to them, he'd almost opened the door in order to take a quick look before leaving. His colleagues would never know how very, very close they'd come to becoming just a footnote in some Justice Dept. paperwork. 

"Jake?" he heard his boss say from just a few feet away. "You OK?" 

"OK??," he asked incredulously, "You've got to be kidding me, right? I almost got us all killed. No……..I'm not OK," Jake answered defensively. He looked at Frank as he stood before him. It never ceased to amaze him how calm Frank Donovan always looked even in the face of a revelation like this. The three of them had come as close as anyone could ever come to facing death and still be able to walk away, and yet Frank still seemed unfazed by the situation. _Amazing_, Jake thought to himself, _or maybe just a little creepy_. How could someone receive news like that and not react emotionally. Jake glanced over at Alex and saw her puffing away on one of her ever-present cigarettes. Her arms were wrapped around herself and he swore that even from this distance he could see her trembling. Then he returned his gaze to the man standing before him. Nothing. The man simply could not be ruffled by anything.

Frank watched the tortured look on his agent's face with concern and empathy. He'd been in Jake's shoes before, granted it had been a number of years, but he could still remember the sickening feeling he would get when he'd realized how awfully close he'd come to getting himself and the rest of his team killed. It wasn't that he was oblivious to the situation they were currently in, but a long time ago a superior had given him an invaluable piece of advice……advice that he was now going to share with his fellow agent.

"Jake," he began slowly. "I know how you feel." He watched as Jake shot him an unbelieving look. "I do, honestly. I've been where you've been. I've felt the same things you're feeling now. The nausea…….the fear…….the almost debilitating knowledge of what could have happened." Jake looked at his boss, still somewhat doubtful.

"If you have…..been where I've been……how can you stand here so calmly right now? I mean it wasn't just Alex and I in that house. You were there too."

Frank sighed and began, "Yes…..I was there too. And no, I'm not immune to the feeling that someone just walked over my grave, but the difference is, I choose not to dwell on what MIGHT have happened. Do you hear me? Yes, it might have happened…..but it didn't. For whatever reason……God…..fate…..karma…..or instinct, we weren't meant to die today. We survived. We're here…..safe and sound. If you dwell on the what if's, they'll paralyze you. You won't be able to function. Pretty soon, you'll be afraid to turn the next corner because you'll live in fear of what MIGHT happen. And I don't know about you, but I don't think that's any way to live."

Jake listened to the words and let them wash over him. He knew that Frank was right. If he let fear run his life, he'd never be able to function as a UC agent. The job was basically about running into one blind alley after another, and if he was afraid to do that, he'd totally lose his effectiveness. The words made sense to him, but figuring out how to make them work was something else entirely.

"So that's your secret, huh? Just choose not to dwell on it? Is it really that easy for you?" Jake asked skeptically.

Frank smiled and chuckled. "No….it's not that easy, but you've got to remember that I've had a few more year's experience dealing with just these types of situations. No…it didn't happen overnight, but the next time you're in a tense situation, just remember what I've said. Don't let fear run your life. There's a fine line between caution and fear, and after awhile you'll be able to discern the difference." 

Jake looked at his boss with a new respect. The more he worked with the man, the more he learned about him. And the more he learned about him, the more he came to respect, admire and……well, even like him. Jake shook his head when he remembered a time not so very long ago, when he'd declared, in no uncertain terms, that there was nothing remotely likable about Frank Donovan. In his opinion, the man had come across as cold, unflinchingly demanding and totally devoid of humor. And now, a year or so later, Jake thought that to his surprise, he would even consider Frank a friend. _Crazy how the world works_. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Frank's cell phone ringing.

"Donovan," Frank barked into the receiver. Listening intently for a few seconds, Frank finally responded. "Right…….I've got it. We're on our way. We'll be there in 10." Jake looked at Frank curiously.

"The police have just received another call on the hotline about suspicious activity in a downtown parking garage. An office worker spotted a man who looked conspicuously out of place carrying a rather large box. The caller said that the man was wearing some sort of uniform with a hat pulled down to cover most of his face. I told them that we'd go check it out. Let's grab Alex and head out." Jake nodded in reply.

"Alex…..we've gotten a new lead. We're heading out," Frank declared as they walked toward her. She still seemed a little flustered, but appeared to be calming down. "Are you up to this?" he asked with real concern in his voice.

She nodded as she dropped her third cigarette in ten minutes to the ground extinguishing it with her foot. "I'm ready. Where to?" she inquired getting back to business.

"A downtown parking garage. There's been a tip about a suspicious man seen in the area." She nodded in understanding. As the three headed toward their waiting car, Jake suddenly turned and asked one last question of the bomb squad leader.

"Brian…….I'm just curious. Frank was concerned that the house might be wired with explosives that would be set off by radio signals, the type that come from police gear. Did you happen to find any of those?" Frank and Alex stopped as well waiting for the man to answer, morbid curiosity getting the better of them.

The man grinned almost devilishly before answering. "Well, let's just say that it was a very good thing that you got out when you did." And that was all he said before turning and walking toward the house which was still a bustle of activity. Jake glanced at both Frank and Alex before climbing into the car. _Don't let fear run your life_, he kept repeating to himself as they drove off.

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The three had left that house nearly an hour ago. They'd arrived at the parking structure and were briefed on what had been seen and where. As a precaution, they were told the garage and all of the surrounding office buildings had been evacuated. The only questions in Frank's mind were……1.….was the man that had been spotted indeed their suspect, and…….2.……if so, what type of device were they up against this time. They had successfully avoided disaster at the man's house, could they get lucky twice in one day?

Now as he rounded yet another row of deserted cars, Frank began to wonder if they'd run into a dead end. He and his team had searched three floors already and found nothing, and just about the time that he'd decided that they had indeed run into the proverbial brick wall, he heard Jake yell his name from the floor above him.

"What do you have Jake?!" he yelled in response, since it was obviously unsafe to use their usual means of communication.

"I'm on the fourth floor! I found………something! In one of the cars!" Frank ran up the spiral exit ramp which linked the floors together. He quickly arrived on the fourth floor and could see Jake and Alex both crouched behind a late model Mercedes, looking in the direction of a vehicle across the aisle. He made his way quickly, but cautiously to their sides.

"What is it?" he asked Jake.

"I was making my way down this row, looking under all of the vehicles when I heard a noise. I couldn't figure out what it was or where it was coming from, but I definitely heard something. So I stopped dead in my tracks and waited for it. That's when I heard it again, only this time I got a good fix on it. It was coming from that SUV over there," Jake stated, pointing to the Ford Explorer parked adjacent to where they were. 

"So I slowly made my way over there, first checking under the car. That's when I noticed that something appeared to be strapped to the undercarriage. Easing myself up I looked through the rear window. That's when I saw…..her."

"Her?" Frank asked in shock. He'd been prepared to find a bomb, god only knew where, but what he wasn't prepared for was finding a person held at the mercy of their mad bomber. "Where is she?"

"She's in the front seat. Tape across her mouth and her hands are chained to the steering column."

"Is she conscious?"

"Yeah…….and frightened beyond belief. After I yelled for you, I tried to communicate the best I could with her from a safe distance. I didn't want to walk straight up to the driver side window, so I went over two cars away and told her that help was on the way. She nodded that she understood, but I could tell that she's really scared." Frank nodded, understanding.

"Alright……Alex….I want you to go down to the bottom floor and get the bomb squad up here. Apprise them of the situation and tell them to hustle. If this thing's on a timer, we may not have much time. Jake…..stay here and wait for the others to arrive. I'll try to talk to the girl. Not knowing what we're up against, it's vital that she remains calm." Alex took off and Jake nodded.

Frank edged his way over to the other side of the aisle. He stopped briefly to look under the surrounding cars. If the maniac could plant one bomb, he certainly could have planted more. The wacko's house being a prime example. When he was fairly positive that the surrounding vehicles were free of any explosives, he made his way between the vehicles two cars away. As Jake had said, who knew what types of sensors could have been placed on the SUV itself and not wanting to endanger anyone further, he decided to err on the side of caution. 

The closer he got to the driver's side window, he was suddenly overcome with a feeling of dread that threatened to overwhelm him. This wasn't like the situation at the house, then he'd just felt like something was wrong. No….this time he felt apprehensive, like he was about to be faced with something he wasn't ready for. He slowly edged his way closer and could now begin to see the profile of the woman in the car. Her face was mostly blocked by her long blond hair. The more he could see, the more anxiety seeped into his soul. The daylight was fading quickly and the lighting in the structure was anything but bright, so he couldn't make out too much, but what he saw made his blood run cold. 

He knew that his imagination was playing tricks on him. _It can't be_, he told himself repeatedly. _It just looks like her because of the color of the hair_. As he stood parallel to the driver's side window, the woman finally noticed him and turned her head. In Frank's mind the action happened in slow motion. What took only a second, seemed like five minutes in his mind. And in that span of time, Frank Donovan finally knew what true terror was. 

As the feeling threatened to overcome him, the only thing that invaded his terrified mind was a single sound……….a click.

"Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!" he shouted as the concussion wave hit him followed quickly by total and complete blackness.

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	2. A rude awakening

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Revelations

Chapter Two

Frank sat up as quickly as his body would allow. His breath was coming in short, shallow gasps and his heart was pounding uncontrollably in his chest. His eyes darted wildly around the room, trying to place where he was exactly. As reality took over, Frank recognized where he was…… he'd been safely asleep at the Nest. _A nightmare……..Jesus Christ!! It wasn't real!!_ _It wasn't real…….._ the words becoming his litany. Slowly he began to calm down, sinking back down to the cot where he'd fallen asleep, one hand planted firmly against his chest as if willing his heart to regain it's normal rhythm. Just seconds before, his whole world had come crashing down around him and now…… _It wasn't real…….. _Once again he glanced around the room and spotted Cody soundly asleep just two beds away. _Thank God I didn't yell out loud in my sleep! _He could only imagine his team's reaction to finding their boss in the throes of a full-blown nightmare. 

He replayed the nightmare over again in his mind trying to determine it's cause. He rarely remembered even his good dreams and for the life of him, he couldn't recall the last time he'd even had a nightmare. Stress……that had to be the reason. They'd been working on this case literally non-stop for the past two weeks. He'd seen his home maybe two days out of the last 14 and then only long enough to collect some other clothes and head back to the Nest once more. He and the other members of his team were working round the clock on this one. In fact he and Cody had worked through the night to be relieved by Alex, Jake and Monica come sunrise. 

Looking at his watch he saw that it was only 9:45AM, and that meant that he'd gotten only 1 ½ hours of sleep. Rubbing his hands roughly over his face, he sighed heavily and gave in to the fact that he wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon. The surge of adrenaline that had caused him to bolt awake so suddenly was only now ebbing way. Despite his exhaustion, he was stone cold awake. 

__

Exhaustion…..that's why I'm dreaming about her. Normally he could easily separate his private and professional lives, but when he became overly tired, he tended to blur the lines a bit. He stared up at the ceiling and thought back through his nightmare. The scene at the bomber's home had indeed happened, almost to the letter how he dreamed it, but that's when his imagination took over. There was no bomb in a downtown parking garage…..no woman held captive in a SUV. No blond that looked like……_stop it!! Don't think about her…..keep your mind on your job, idiot!!! _Placing his hands over his eyes, he tried to will himself to sleep. He was sure it wouldn't work. At least he was pretty sure it wouldn't work………..at least until he felt himself slowly succumbing to his bone-weary fatigue. _Maybe I'm more tired than I think I am……._

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"Donovan………Donovan…….it's time to wake up," a gentle voice prodded. 

Barely awake, he slowly became aware that Monica was standing near his bedside. Her face was a mask of concern. Normally, Frank was a light sleeper. The slightest sounds could jar him awake, and here it had taken her nearly a minute to rouse him. 

"Everything OK?" he asked groggily, as he swung his feet over the side of the cot. He glanced briefly at his watch and saw that it was nearly 2:30 in the afternoon. _Geez….and here I didn't think I'd be able to get back to sleep._

"It's the boss," she paused seeing Frank give an uncustomary eye roll. "I told him that you were asleep, but he said he wanted to talk to you now, and he stressed the _now_ part."

"Of course," he answered, the two words dripping with sarcasm. "It's always _now._" 

Monica watched her boss as he slowly stood stretching his tired and fatigued muscles. She knew that they'd all been going non-stop on this particular case, but she also knew that Frank shouldered so much more than the rest of them. Not only did he have to work the case, but he also had to make sure he kept the higher echelon happy doing it. His uncharacteristic behavior in the last few moments told her that it was all taking it's toll on him. She mentally filed away the information, and followed him out of the room.

Frank climbed the stairs to his office, trying to clear his still sleepy mind as he did so. He could have taken the call on one of the phones on the lower level, but instinctively he knew that what he was about to hear would not make him happy. More often than not in the last few days, his conversations with his superiors had been anything but civil. They wanted progress, not excuses, and he couldn't seem to make them understand that even with all the resources available to him, they were after one clever son-of-a-bitch. Frank settled himself at his desk, took a deep breath, and picked up the receiver, preparing for another battle.

"Donovan," he barked into the phone.

"It's about time, Frank. I was beginning to think that I'd have to come down there myself and wake you up." For the second time in less than five minutes, Frank rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Sorry, Craig. It was a long night and I haven't been able to sleep much in the last few days." In the big scheme of things, Frank knew that Craig Stevens was not such a bad guy. Unfortunately, he just wasn't the right type of person to be in the position that he held. The man cared about nothing but numbers and statistics. Strategies and reasons meant little to him and that's where he and Frank always butted heads. The man simply couldn't understand how a mission could drag on and on when X number of people and resources had been allocated for such and such a period of time. To him it didn't add up. Plain and simple. 

"I understand that, Frank. But the bottom line is……" _Here we go, _Frank thought to himself_……. "_we're just not getting results, are we?" _We're?? **We're** not getting results? _Frank wanted to ask. _I don't see your pansy ass down here trying to catch this psycho!_

"Craig….let me try to explain this again….." but before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted.

"Please Frank….I've heard it all….ad nauseum. The suspect is more clever than originally anticipated…..you and your crew along with a good portion of the Chicago PD are working round the clock, etc., etc., etc. I've heard it Frank. Unless of course you have something original to add." Frank gritted his teeth trying to retain what sliver of self-control he had remaining.

"Well…" Frank began cautiously, "it would seem that I have nothing more to add to that, but sometimes the truth may be hard to swallow."

On the other end of the line, Craig could sense that he might have pushed one too many buttons. His intention was not to anger Frank, just the opposite. He was hoping to provide some support. Taking a deep breath, he continued.

"Frank……I'm sorry. If I insinuated that you weren't doing your job correctly, I sincerely apologize. What I was trying to say, and obviously unsuccessfully, was that we seem to spinning our wheels in the mud, as it were. You and your crew have worked on this case for some time now and I think even you would have to admit that the results are not easily forthcoming. Would I be correct in that assumption?"

Sighing, Frank answered, "I suppose I can't argue with you there."

"Well that's something at least. We can agree on that." And before Frank could interject with some scathing remark, Craig continued. "That being said, I think we need to access how your resources are being utilized."

Frank narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Excuse me? Care to explain that one?"

"What I mean is, let's look at how you and your team are working. You said that you and your crew have been working round-the-clock on this one. If that's the case, then at some point during each day, your profiler or your tech-op are not available. Is this correct?"

"You know it is. I don't think they'd last very long if I didn't let them sleep for at least a few hours."

"Exactly. That said, what I'd like to do is to assign two more people to your team, to cover for when the others are not available."

Frank leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. The instant the offer was out there, he was torn between two very different emotions. First, he realized that the more coverage they had the better. And he was sure that both Monica and Cody would feel a little better about not having so much pressure put on them. But on the other hand, to bring someone new into the mix at this point in the operation could be disastrous. He and his team knew each others' strengths and weaknesses. They had their own communication shorthand. They could read each other easily and swiftly. To introduce new members at this point could be hindering more than helping.

"Craig…" Frank began slowly, choosing his words carefully, "……I appreciate the offer….I really do. But at this point in the operation, bringing in new operatives could be detrimental. We need to work together as a team. We need to be able to react quickly and efficiently, and bringing someone else into that now could only hamper our progress."

"Frank, I understand group dynamics. I really do, especially in stressful situations. I would never consider bringing complete strangers into the unit. I was going to suggest Dave Kelton for tech-ops. I believe you worked with him on that Houston prison riot."

"I did. He's good." Frank contemplated the addition for a moment. Running his hand across his chin while he thought it through, he wondered briefly how Cody would react to having someone else touch his precious hardware. "Alright…..I can see him fitting in here. Who are you suggesting for profiler?" 

"Now filling that position isn't quite as easy. First off, the person has to be up to speed on the specifics of the case. Second, he or she should have a background in serial criminal profiling and possibly even have had a history dealing with bombing suspects." Frank listened to Craig listing qualifications and slowly began to feel ill at ease. _He's building up to something…..something big. _

"So do you have someone specifically in mind or not?" Frank asked curtly.

There was a long pause before he answered. "I do…….Laura Daniels."

"No," Frank responded quickly and succinctly. As he did so, he rose from his chair and began pacing restlessly through the room. "No way."

"Frank…..please listen to reason."

"No. That's my final answer. If you want to send David Kelton here, fine. But that's it."

"Frank, listen to me. You need help and she's the logical answer. Her background….."

"I know what her background is……you don't have to tell me about her background, for Christ's sake. What I'm telling you is that I don't want her here. Period. End of sentence." Still pacing, he absently ran a hand through his short hair. Something he only did when he was very agitated. 

"Frank, please listen to reason. I'm not suggesting that she become a permanent member of your team. What I'm suggesting….what I'm offering….is to bring on someone that you know well. Someone that you've worked with before and someone that has the perfect background for this type of assignment. You know that I'm right."

Sighing heavily and finally sitting back down in his chair, Frank covered his eyes with his free hand and wished for a second that he were anywhere but where he was at that moment. "Fine," he ground out through clenched teeth. "But let me just say for the record that if this doesn't work out well, I'm going to have your head on a silver platter."

Thankful that they were on the phone and not face-to-face, Craig visibly relaxed. The truth was that Frank Donovan intimidated him. The man was a legend in the Bureau as well as in other branches of the Justice Department and having to go toe-to-toe with him was more than daunting. "Relax Frank…..I'm sure everything will work out. And now that you'll be getting the extra help that you'll need, I'm sure things will progress nicely."

Frank shook his head in wonderment. _We wouldn't want to go against the bottom line now would we, you weasely pencil pusher? _"So when should I expect the new recruits to arrive?" he asked exhausted and feeling ten years older than he really was.

"David is on his way and should be there by the end of the day. Laura will be there as soon as some personal arrangements can be made. Tomorrow afternoon at the latest." Frank closed his eyes and hung his head.

"Fine….we'll get them up to speed as quickly as possible." Pausing briefly before adding, " Any other bombshells you care to drop today?" he asked barely able to keep the sarcastic tone from his voice.

"No….I think that's enough for one day. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Wholeheartedly. If that's it, I'm going to get back to work. Gotta catch the bad guy."

"Good luck Frank."

"Thanks….somehow I think I'm going to need it." And with that he hung up the phone and turned to face the windows.

Leaning back in his chair, he placed his hands behind his head and sighed tiredly. _Jesus….this could end up being one fucked up mess. Tracking down and catching a crazed bomber's bad enough, but now……it just had to be her didn't it._

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	3. Breaking the news

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Revelations

Chapter Three

Frank waited several minutes before going downstairs to fill the rest of the team in on what had been discussed on the phone. Actually he needed the time to come to grips with situation. Every fiber of his being was screaming that this was a monumentally bad idea. He didn't want her here. The two of them working together again, especially now, could spell disaster. Not that she wasn't a competent profiler, in fact, she was one of the best. No…the problem was a personal one. One he guessed he was just going to have to try his best to live with. _So much for keeping your personal and professional lives separate. _Sighing once more, he opened the office door and proceeded down the stairs.

"People……listen up," he announced as he approached the main seating area. He noticed that Jake, Alex and Monica were present already. Cody was nowhere to be seen. 

"Where's Cody?" Frank inquired, looking around.

"Still sleeping," Jake answered. "You want me to wake him?" he asked with a glint of mischievousness in his eye, remembering all too well how the young tech-op had woken him from a sound sleep some months ago. Ice water down the back was no way to be startled awake.

"Yeah, get him up. This concerns him too," Frank replied. "And Jake……no horsing around…we don't have the time." He couldn't help but chuckle to himself when he saw the look of disappointment on Jake's face as he turned to retrieve Cody.

A few moments later, Jake and a very sleepy Cody emerged from the area where the sleeping cots had been placed. The two made their way to the conference table.

"Alright……first off. Do we have any more info on the type of mechanisms used to construct the bombs?" Frank began.

The four were silent until Cody seemed to remember that this was his responsibility. "Oh…right….that's me." Scooting his chair over to his nearest computer console, he retrieved a manila folder and began to page through it.

"So far, the components used are fairly common. In fact, most are things that can be bought at any local hardware store. There are a few partial pieces that we're trying to identify, but so far nothing definitive."

"OK…..Alex? Jake? Any other leads from the police phone line?"

"We spent the afternoon following up on a few calls, but nothing. Just crackpots who get off on trying to get in on the action," Jake answered for the two.

"And still no sign of our suspect," Alex added. "When he left his house, we'll have to assume it's for good. The PD has the area staked out and so far they've seen nothing. The usual statewide APB's have been posted. We've also alerted Canadian authorities in case the guy decides to head for the border. But so far, the elusive Mr. Henry Sumner is nowhere to be found." 

"Right. Monica……it's been almost five days since this guy's last strike. What or where do you think he's going to hit next?"

Monica considered the question for a few seconds before replying, knowing the importance of supplying accurate information to the rest of the team. Rising from her chair she approached one of the adjacent computer terminals and clicked a few keys. Up popped a map of the Chicago area with several spots highlighted in red.

"This is a map of the bomber's previous hits. The mailbox, the restaurant, the playground, etc. If we highlight his house and consider that ground zero, as you can see, his comfort zone is expanding. As with most serial criminals, he started close to home and slowly moved outward as his confidence level increased. In this guy's case not only is he expanding geographically, he's also increased his level of destruction. His first bombs were simple, nothing more sophisticated than a few packs of firecrackers taped together. The last ones are…well…..a hell of a lot more complex." She paused briefly and then turned and leaned against one of the counters folding her arms across her chest. 

"As for the next target, I wouldn't be surprised if he targeted someplace where there would be a lot of people. And as to why he's waited so long, I can only surmise that what he has in store will be his biggest and most complicated hit yet." She sighed and looked down at her shoes. "I know that's not enough information to go on, but at this point if I tried to come up with specifics, I'd only be guessing."

Frank studied the young profiler for a few seconds before responding. Of all of them in that room, her job was the most complex. Sure Jake and Alex regularly put their lives in danger and some of the things that Cody could accomplish on a computer could only be described as something close to miraculous, but she was expected to crawl inside the head of whatever type of criminal they were chasing this week and come up with viable motives and actions. All in all, an incredibly difficult job.

"All right. You're correct, at least at this point any scenarios any of us could come up with would only be guesses." He paused for a brief moment, trying to decide how best to broach the next subject. Looking around the table he saw them all eyeing him curiously. _They can tell that I'm stalling._ _Might as well get to it._

"As you know, I had a conversation earlier with Craig Stevens." He saw the group shift uncomfortably in their seats, trying their best to stifle the groans that he could imagine them emitting. "I know, I know, he's not your favorite person, but I think this time he may have made a valid point."

"Well that'd be a first," Jake interjected sarcastically. "What did our fearless director have to say this time?" Frank shot Jake a disapproving look, although inwardly he had to agree with him.

"We were discussing personnel allocation."

"Come again?" Alex asked confused.

"He wanted to talk about how we were dividing our time up, especially since I told him that we were working round-the-clock on this one." He glanced at the four and saw that they were listening intently waiting for him to get to the point. "He feels that we need more personnel on board if we're going to continue to go 24-7 on this."

"He wants to bring in outsiders? Now??" Jake asked suspiciously. "How many people are we talking about here?"

"He suggested two people." _Here we go….. _"Someone to help with tech-ops and another to help with profiling." He watched the reaction closely. Cody immediately took a defensive posture, kind of like 'no way in hell am I letting someone else touch this equipment.' Monica, on the other hand, looked rather shocked and somewhat defeated, as if he had just told her that her work here was not good enough. 

"Let me explain before anyone says anything," he started, hoping to head off any battles that could be forthcoming. "The point he made was this……at any given point during the day, we're without one of you. At least with Jake, Alex and myself, we can divide our time so that at least one of us is available at all times to follow up on leads. For the two of you, that's not the case. What he suggested was that we bring in these extra people so that we would have round-the-clock coverage in all areas." He saw Monica's posture change slightly. She at least would be willing to listen to reason. Cody, however, still looked like he was willing to fight about this.

"He's not suggesting……**I'm** not suggesting that either one of you is not doing your job to the best of your ability. Quite the contrary, what the two of you have contributed so far is outstanding as always. Please don't feel that this is a reflection on either one of you." 

"So….do we have any names, yet?" Cody asked defensively.

"The tech-op is someone that I worked with before. His name is David Kelton."

"Hot damn! You shittin' me?" Cody nearly yelled, a wide smile now plastered across his face.

"No Cody. I am not shittin' you. I take it you're all right with this now."

"You better believe it! I went through training with Kelton. He's one of the best out there, present company excluded, of course," he added with false humility.

"Well good. He should be here by later this evening. Now, our new behavioral expert should be here by sometime tomorrow. Her name is Laura Daniels. Monica…..I trust you'll be able to get her up to speed as quickly as possible." 

"No problem. I'll have all available data ready for her when she gets here. May I suggest that for the first day, the two of us work together?"

"That's a good idea. The two of you can bounce ideas off each other while she's getting settled." Monica nodded her head in approval.

"Good. Now that that's all settled do we have anything further? Any new details on this guy's background? History?" The four shook there heads in the negative.

"All right. Let's get back to work. I'll be in my office if you need me."

The four agents watched their boss climb the stairs and disappear into his second floor office. When he was well out of sight, Jake turned to the others and said, "Anyone else see that?"

"See what?" Alex inquired confused.

"The look on his face when he mentioned the new girl's name."

"What are you talking about Jake? I didn't see any look," Monica replied.

"I don't know…..it wasn't there for long…..just a fraction of a second. It almost looked like he…..I don't know……winced or something. Like this wasn't such a good thing, her coming here."

"I think you're dreaming Jake," Alex announced. "You're just imagining things."

"Oh yeah?" he answered defensively. "I tell you, I know what I saw. And there is definitely something up." he looked at the other three and knew that they didn't believe him. "Ok, Cody…..see what you can dig up on this new girl. Maybe there'll be some clue in her file."

Cody sighed heavily and rolled his eyes but he moved to do as Jake requested. "You're getting as bad as Donovan….Cody do this….Cody do that," he mumbled under his breath. "It'll be nice to have someone else here to get ordered around." Typing away at his computer console, he soon found what he was looking for.

"Ok……let's see…….Laura Daniels……..she's been with the FBI for…….looks like the past 10 years, although for the last four she's been working as a freelance consultant. She only works when she wants to basically. Nice……her background is in serial criminology with emphasis on violent offenders………and she's quite a looker too. 5'8", blonde hair, green eyes……._very_ nice," he added appreciatively while admiring her file photo. "Let's see if we can go back a little further……..damn!"

"What is it?" Jake asked looking over his shoulder.

"Her file's classified. Anything before the past ten years is totally off limits and come to think of it……there's not a whole lot of personal info on her regular record either."

"See…..I told you there's something going on," Jake stated, proud of himself.

"Jake….you don't know shit. Just because part of the girl's background is classified doesn't mean that there's something going on," Monica berated. "And as for a lack of personal info, try checking your own file sometime. You might see a similarity."

Jake looked at the others perplexed. He didn't understand how they could miss what he thought was a red flag moment. Everything in him, all the instincts he depended on when he was undercover, told him that there was a huge missing piece of a puzzle staring them all squarely in the face. He didn't get how they were so willing to overlook it.

"Hey….I'm not saying she's a bad person or anything. I'm just saying there's more to the story here," he stated defensively.

"What story Jake?" Alex asked quizzically. "Let it go. And for God's sake, when she gets here, don't give her the third degree," she added tiredly.

"All right….geez…..I'll let it go, but I'm telling' you, there's more to the story."

"Fine….whatever…..can we please get back to work?" Alex asked exasperatedly. 

The four then set about their respective duties. Jake and Alex left to check in with the local PD. Monica began compiling all pertinent information for her new colleague and Cody started dreaming about how nice it was going to be to have someone else around who understood all the tech garble that often escaped his mouth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shortly after entering his office, Frank was sure that the other four agents were now doing their best to disseminate the information he had just given them. The fact that Cody knew Dave Kelton was a huge plus. That was one hurdle avoided. No….the obstacle that they were all tackling right now had to do with their soon to be new profiler. None of them knew her, and he was fairly sure that they were now looking up her file trying to get a handle on who they'd be dealing with.

He knew what was in her file. Nothing too specific and anything too telling had been deleted or encrypted a long time ago. _The less they know, the better. _Part of him didn't want things to be that way, but the other part of him knew that it was for the best. It'll be easier for them to work with her, if they didn't know all the facts.

Leaning back in his chair, he sighed heavily and rubbed his face vigorously. _Damn, I'm tired! I can't remember the last time I felt this tired. Yes…..you can. Don't go there Donovan. _Rising from the chair he paced the office hoping that a little movement might help to wake him up. He soon found himself leaning on his chair staring at his phone. _I should probably call her…………no……tomorrow will come soon enough. _It always did.

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	4. Along comes a woman

****

Revelations

Chapter Four

"So what do you think of the new guy?" Jake asked as he and Alex made their way back to the Nest.

"David? Seems OK. Cody certainly seems to get along with him."

"You know……I always wondered what kind of people Cody would have as friends," he mused as he parked his truck and the two exited.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex asked all of a sudden feeling protective of Cody.

Hearing the defensiveness in her voice he said, "That's not what I meant. I mean Cody eats, breathes and probably even dreams about computers and gadgetry. I always wondered if all of his friends would be the same way."

"Well, it's hard to say if all of his friends are techies, but I'd have to say the odds are pretty good."

Jake stopped just short of the entryway door and turned to Alex. "So what do you think the new girl's gonna be like?'

Alex shook her head in exasperation. "Leave it alone Jake! You're imagining things…..get over it!"

"I'm just asking….."

"I know what you're asking, and I know what you're implying. Give it a rest!" And before he could question or comment any further, she reached for the door and entered the warehouse.

The two made their way to the main area, being careful to remain quiet since some of the team members were still sleeping. After Dave had arrived somewhere around 9:30 the previous night, the group had decided how best to divide their resources. The group decided that because Donovan had worked with both Dave and Laura before, they thought it best that he be the one to work with them again. So that left Monica, Cody, Alex and Jake to work the other 12 hours shift. But since Monica wanted to have the chance to brief Laura, today would be the exception to that arrangement. 

Jake and Alex entered the operations area and found only Cody working away at his computer console.

"Everyone still asleep?" Alex inquired quietly.

Cody looked up briefly from whatever it was he was reading and answered, "Everyone except Donovan. He's in his office."

Jake glanced quickly at his watch. "It's still pretty early, what's he doing up already?"

Cody shot him a 'give me a break' look before saying, "Gee Jake….I don't usually ask the big guy about his sleeping habits. But if it interests you that much…… he got up about an hour ago, showered, asked me briefly if there was any new info, I answered, he poured himself a cup of coffee and then he made his way up the stairs. I didn't know I was supposed to alert the media," he added snidely before returning to his work.

"Boy….someone's grouchy this morning," Jake mumbled before turning away.

As if sensing that he had been the topic of conversation, Frank came down the stairs and approached Alex and Jake.

"So what did you find out about our suspect?" he inquired directly.

Alex took out a small notebook and began to recite what was written there. "Henry Sumner, age 45, unemployed machinist. Used to work for the metal works factory on the east side before it burned down two years ago. Ever since then he's had a hard time finding and keeping jobs. According to a former employer, he was, and I quote, 'extremely tense and usually combative'. And that's pretty much the report we got from all of his other bosses. The reason for termination in all cases was either excessive absenteeism or bad attitude. From what we could find out, he hasn't held a job for the last ten months. That would have left him plenty of time to work up this madness he's got going."

"Anything on his whereabouts?" Frank asked although he already knew the answer.

"Nothing…..it's like he dissolved into thin air," Jake answered.

"Do you think he left town?" Alex asked.

Frank folded his arms in front of him and paced a second or two before answering. "No…..I think he still has some sort of score to settle. I think he just went underground for awhile, waiting for things to cool down a bit."

"Either that or he already had a contingency plan in place," Monica added as she stood in the doorway having heard the conversation between the three. 

Donovan turned to face her. "What kind of contingency plan?" 

She walked further into the room before responding. "Let's face it……this guy knew we were going to eventually find out who he was. The way he had his house rigged to blow proves that. Maybe in some way, he _wanted _to be found out, and if so, I'm sure he made other plans for that eventuality. I don't think he's hiding……I definitely think he's still at work, just from a location we're not aware of yet." 

"That's definitely something to consider," he said to himself more than to the group. He seemed lost in thought when they all heard a knock at the main door. Jake started to make his way to the door but before he got two steps away, Donovan announced that he'd get it. 

After their boss opened the door, the four agents could hear some hushed conversation before he returned with a visitor.

"Everyone," he announced, "I'd like you to meet Laura Daniels." Cody's first thought upon meeting their new agent was that she was _way _prettier in person than in her file photo. The others merely nodded their heads in recognition. Frank continued the introductions. "Laura….I'd like you to meet Alex Cross……Jake Shaw…….Monica Davis and Cody Forester."

After shaking hands with the group, she smiled appreciatively and said, "It's a pleasure to finally meet everyone."

"Finally?" Jake asked curiously.

"Well….since I received word of the assignment, I was, of course, given folders on the team members so that I could acquaint myself with all of you as much as I could. Especially since it seems that I'm going to be the odd man out here."

"Ahhh….we're really not a bad bunch. I have a couple of useful hints for you though," Cody started, trying to sound suave and sophisticated, nudging Alex out of the way so that he could stand closer to Laura. "First….Alex _must_ have a cigarette first thing in the morning, if she doesn't get one, she's a bitch for the rest of the day."

"Hey!" Alex shouted indignantly.

"Just telling the truth sister!" he retorted before continuing. "Second, Jake here is our resident hothead. If someone's going to go off the deep end, it's usually him." At this point Cody had to duck to avoid a flying pen launched from somewhere in Jake's vicinity.

"Third, Monica is our mother hen. She feels it's her responsibility to make sure that everyone is well-fed and taken care of." Cody didn't turn to see Monica's reaction because he was sure he could picture her just fine with her arms crossed in front of her and staring darts into the back of his head.

"Now the big guy here……well……how shall I put this nicely……," he began, tapping his chin pretending to contemplate the situation. "Well……he's a control freak. Everything must be mapped out and planned in triplicate before making a move." 

Cody should have sensed that he'd gone too far but he totally missed Donovan's reaction due to the fact that he was intently staring at Laura as she reacted to his statements. At first she had a somewhat shocked look on her face, but that look was soon replaced by mild amusement and then he could tell she was downright tickled by the whole situation. 

Before Frank could say anything, Laura interjected. "And what should I be warned about you Cody?" she asked with a smile on her face. 

"Oh that's easy, just keep your hands off my equipment." As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew that he'd left himself wide open for comments.

But before anyone else could react, Laura returned, "I don't think you'll have to worry about that Cody…….I'll let someone else…….._handle_ _your equipment." _Jake, Alex and Monica all broke out into peels of laughter, and even Frank looked somewhat amused. 

"Sorry Cody," Laura began, "I just couldn't help myself," although she was having a very hard time not joining in on the laughter. The truth was she was very grateful for Cody's comments since it helped ease the tension she felt when she walked into the room. Of course she was very well aware that most of that tension was emanating from Frank. 

Now that the laughter seemed to be dying down, Monica spoke up. "Laura….I told Donovan that I thought it might be a good idea for the two of us to spend the day going over the facts of the case."

Nodding in agreement, "I think that's an excellent idea. It's just what I was going to suggest." 

"Wonderful. But before you get started," Frank began, "Laura and I have some things to discuss about her stay here. If you'll excuse us." And with that he ushered Laura to the stairs and the two made their way to Frank's office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as the two were out of sight, Jake smacked Cody upside the head.

"Owwww!! What the hell was that for?" he asked as he rubbed the side of his face.

"What was that for?!?! You're kidding me, right? What the hell was all that shit you were spouting?" Jake asked in reply.

"I was just trying to break the ice! Everyone's been so uptight about her coming here."

"Break the ice, my ass!" Alex added. "You thought you'd try to score some points by getting her to laugh at your stupid jokes. I hate to break it to ya bub, but she is _soooo_ out of your league."

"I don't know about that. Haven't you ever picked up a People Magazine and seen a picture of some gorgeous supermodel and then wondered how in the hell she ended up with some guy that looks like…..I don't know….me!"

"Keep dreaming, techno geek……keep dreaming," was all that Alex said in reply as she walked away. Jake and Monica too had to chuckle at his efforts. But soon, the four got back to work and soon forgot about the incident.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura walked into Frank's office and looked around. _It's just as I would have pictured it. _She went to the far windows and briefly looked out, not that she could see much since most of the glass was that wavy kind that distorted the view. As she was gazing outside, she heard Frank quietly close the door behind her, and she turned to look at him. _Did he just lock that door?_

The two just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. She was trying to remember how long it had been since she'd seen him last. _It's been too long, that's all I know. _She couldn't help but appreciate the way he looked today. He was dressed entirely in black. Black slacks. Black shoes. And that delectable black turtleneck that she loved. She didn't know what it was about him in that turtleneck, but it always got her blood going. Maybe it just made him look mysterious….._maybe it just makes you horny!_ Before she could put a coherent sentence together, he finally broke the silence.

"I missed you," he said in a low, slightly husky voice. He hadn't moved. He remained just inside the closed door, mesmerized by her. _Does she have any idea what kind of effect she has on me? _It had taken every ounce of control he had to behave himself when the two had been downstairs just now. She'd been standing so close to him that he could breathe in the scent of the shampoo that she used, and he had wanted nothing more than to bury his nose in that wavy blonde hair, but somehow he didn't think the rest of his team would understand why he was pawing their newest member.

She continued to stare at him, almost afraid to blink, as if in blinking he might somehow disappear. She began to think that maybe this had been a huge mistake. How could she possibly work with him when she felt this way. Personal feelings could easily get in the way while working a case of this intensity. She should go. She should call the powers-that-be and tell them to get another profiler. But then….._how long will it be before I see him again?_ In the space of a heartbeat she decided.

"You missed me, huh……prove it," she responded, putting every emotion she was feeling into those few words. Passion…..need…..desire…..lust……love.

Frank slowly walked across the room, his eyes never leaving hers. _He looks like a panther stalking his prey._ When they were standing so close that their breath became one, he raised his hands and gently cupped her face lightly skimming his thumbs across her pale cheeks. Then he slowly lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was gentle and unhurried. Lips exploring lips. Caressing, teasing, and slowly increasing in intensity. He was determined to make the moment last, but his body was screaming for him to do otherwise. He slid one hand into her hair cupping the back of her head while his other hand glided down her arm and made it's way to the small of her back pulling her even closer to him if that were possible.

It wasn't enough. She snaked her arms around his neck, plunging her hands into his hair, softly scraping her nails across the fine hairs at the base of his neck. She tried to press every inch of herself up against his body, but she couldn't get close enough and it was driving her crazy. She whimpered against his mouth and he instinctively knew what she wanted….what she needed. He stepped forward and pressed her up against the wall, pinning her there with his body. As his tongue explored her mouth, he was silently telling her how much he wanted to devour every single inch of her. Had he ever wanted her more than he did at this moment? He didn't think so, and he was sure that he'd go mad if he didn't take her now. The hand on her back slowly slid to her thigh and she lifted her leg in response, crooking it around his leg as he moved his hand to explore what was hidden from view under her skirt. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Frank knew this was wrong, completely and utterly wrong, but at this particular moment he chose to ignore that tiny voice of reason. He'd sacrificed so much for his career over the years, and somehow taking a few minutes of pleasure only seemed fitting in return. But before he could fully become enveloped in her, the moment was shattered by a ringing phone. At first the two ignored the shrill sound, but as it continued, both knew that work would have to come first. With a strength he didn't know he possessed, he separated himself from her and turned to the desk. Taking a moment first to calm his breathing and regain what faculties he had remaining, he finally picked up the phone. 

"Donovan," he nearly yelled into the mouthpiece.

"Well good morning to you too, Mr. Sunshine!" was the humored response he got. Frank sighed quietly and tried to focus on the conversation at hand. Lt. Phil Casey was one of the detectives at the local precinct, and he was their liaison with the PD. Frank had a pretty fair idea of why the man would be calling at this time of the morning.

"What can I do for you Phil?" Frank inquired, adjusting his tone of voice. _You've got lousy timing Phil, that's all I've got to say and some day I'll have to pay you back._

"I've got some info for you. We've received two calls within the past 6 hours from people claiming to have seen a suspicious man at a local motel. We sent a couple of cruisers by to check it out and they found something."

"Found what?" Frank asked, suddenly riveted by the conversation.

"They had the manager open the room in question and they found some wires and what appears to be C4 explosives. I called the bomb squad out and they say the place is clean, but I figured you or some of your people may want to take a look."

"Absolutely. What's the address?"

"It's the Woodcrest Motel. 15435 Sawmill Rd."

"We'll be there within the half hour," he informed the man. "And thanks."

"Anytime, Frank. We'll do anything we can to help catch this bastard."

"Right," Frank responded before hanging up the phone.

Laura had been intently trying to follow the conversation, that is, as well as she could after having nearly climaxed just from his mind-numbing kiss. She knew the call had to do with their case and her senses were immediately on edge. "Frank….what is it?"

He turned to face her and she could tell that everything that had transpired between them just minutes ago was totally forgotten. The Frank Donovan she was looking at now was the take charge, tough-as-nails man that so many people feared. Not the man that she knew and had loved desperately for so long. The one who liked to sit quietly in front of a roaring fire reading a good book, or the one who's eyes still glistened with tears when he spoke of his father's death. This was not the man who had made love to her gently and passionately on more occasions than she could count. Sighing inwardly, she prepared herself for the fact that she may not see _her_ Frank Donovan for some time to come.

"The cops received 2 anonymous tips pointing them to a local motel. They checked it out and found what looks like the remains of some sort of handmade bomb. I want to check it out. See if they missed anything."

"I'm coming with you."

"Laura……," he began, not liking the idea of her out in the field.

"Please don't Laura me…..this is what I do Frank, and you know I'm at my best when I can actually see the place where the suspect has been recently. I'm here to work….let me come with you." He stared at her for more than a few seconds and she could see the wheels turning behind his eyes, weighing the pros and cons.

"All right……but when we're out in the field, you follow my orders to the letter. Understood?" 

She smiled slightly and answered, "Yes sir, Agent Donovan." He couldn't help but return the smile and then the two exited the office and made their way to the main level.

The other agents looked up immediately when they heard Frank and Laura descending the steps in a hurried fashion.

"What's up?" Jake asked first.

"The local PD got a tip that led them to a local hotel. They found what looks like the remains of a bomb. Laura and I are going to check it out."

Laura turned to Monica and said, "I'm sorry…..looks like we'll have to postpone that orientation for a couple of hours."

"No problem. Do you want me to go with you?" 

"Not unless you want to," Laura responded. "I sometimes get a better sense of people if I see the places they've been….the things they've touched."

"Kind of like a clairvoyant?" Alex asked curiously.

"Not exactly…….more like…..sensing why a person chose to be in a certain place, or why they left things the way they did. Sometimes I can get a better handle on the suspect's psyche that way."

"Interesting," Monica commented. "I've never worked quite that way. If it's OK with you, boss, I'd like to come with you. It never hurts to learn new skills."

"Of course. Let's get going," he said to the two profilers. Actually he was glad that Monica was going along with them. Laura was wrong if she thought he had forgotten what had happened between the two of them in his office. The truth was, it was all he could think about and even though he may not appear that way on the outside, on the inside he was completely consumed by the blond standing entirely too close to him. The look of her….the smell of her….the way she walked, talked, moved….the way she tasted……the softness of her skin when he ran his hand up her silky thigh….._Oh dear God…help me! _ It was better that Monica tag along with them, acting as a buffer. _This is going to be one long assignment, _he thought to himself ruefully.

__

After the three had left, Cody turned to Jake and said, "Did you see that?"

"See what?" thinking he had missed something terribly important

"Laura…….her face was all flushed and Donovan looked pissed as hell. You don't think he read her the riot act over what happened earlier, do you? I mean geez…..I was only joking around." Jake could tell that Cody seemed very upset over the situation.

"Nah…..I think you're imagining things. Besides, even if he did chew her out, she looks like the type that can stick up for herself. So stop trying to defend your new _girlfriend," _he added, emphasizing the last word for effect. 

Cody spun around and glared at Jake who was smiling mischievously. _Man…..can't a guy be nice to someone without there being implications. Although……it would be really nice………_

"Knock it off you two!" Alex admonished. "I swear….the two of you act like you're in high school again! I suggest we all get some sleep. I don't know about you, but it's been a long night. Somebody wake David up and let's get some shut eye." The two looked rather sheepish and moved off to do as she'd suggested. 

After they'd left the room, she took a moment to replay the morning's activities in her head. There was definitely something going on, but she'd be damned if she'd talk to Jake about it. But there most certainly was something different about Donovan. He'd seemed almost….nervous, on edge. Something about the way he'd glance at Laura……something in the way he stood almost too close to her. And Cody was right, Laura's face did seem a bit flushed when they came down from his office and she could have sworn……_you're imagining things Alex. I don't know…..I swear she looked like she had whisker burns around her mouth………hmmmmm……..things could get very interesting. _

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**A/N -- Thank you all sooooo much for reading! (and for reviewing) I most sincerely appreciate it!!! I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters when things get a little complicated in Frank Donovan's world. ;)**

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**** **** ****


	5. Get a room!

****

Revelations

Chapter Five

Frank, Laura and Monica arrived at the motel some 25 minutes later. The place was cordoned off with yellow police tape, and after showing his ID, they were allowed to enter the scene. One of the uniformed police gave them a brief run down of what they had found and who had had access to the room. Nodding his head in gratitude, Frank and the others made their way to the open door. 

"Remember….don't touch anything," he warned them.

"I know," Laura answered slightly irritated. "It hasn't been _that _long since I've visited a possible crime scene." She brushed past him and entered the room first, making mental notes of what she saw. Both beds were still neatly made, indicating that the place had not been used for rest but rather as a place to finish up whatever their suspect had been working on. On the beds were a variety of odds and ends. Tape, electrical tape she noted…..various bits of wires…..some sort of substance that looked like modeling clay but what she was fairly sure was explosive material……and some pieces that could only be described as the innards of a clock. 

After perusing the beds and their contents, she slowly made her way through the remainder of the room. Someone had opened the bathroom door and left the light on. _The bomber? _She stepped inside and noticed immediately that there was still a certain amount of dampness in the air. _He took a shower before leaving. Why? To wash away any residual traces of the explosive? _If the air was still saturated with water, then their man couldn't have left very long ago. _Is he still in the area? Is he watching what's going on here? _

Frank watched as Laura made her rounds. He'd learned a long time ago not to interrupt her when she was in her sleuth mode. She needed time to go over the area and filter what she saw through what she knew to be criminal behavior. Putting two and two together, so to speak. He loved watching her work. _Face it Donovan….you just love watching her. How can someone look so focused and serious and still look so damned sexy? _Shaking his head, he tried to tear himself away and go over the contents of the room himself. Putting on surgical gloves, he began his investigation. 

Monica, entered after the other two and stood in the doorway for a few moments watching them. They both seemed oblivious to her presence, which gave her time to come to a conclusion she'd been sensing since she left the Nest. _There is** definitely **something going on between these two! _When they'd been in the car earlier, Monica had chosen to sit in the back, and from that vantage point, she could most certainly see the difference in how Donovan related to this woman. When they spoke to each other, it was almost in intimate tones. True, the two knew each other from some time before, but just _how_ well they knew each other was what Monica wanted to know. _An old girlfriend? A current girlfriend? An old flame looking to be rekindled? _She hadn't been totally sure until they'd entered the motel room and she'd seen how Donovan was staring after Laura like some horny teenager. _I can't wait to tell Alex about this one! _Snapping out of her own reverie, she began to look over the room herself.

"Doesn't look like he slept here," Monica noted immediately. Frank turned quickly to look at her as if he'd forgotten that there was someone else in the room with he and Laura.

Frank nodded and approached the beds. Lifting the bedspread up on one and then the other with his gloved hand he responded, "You're right…..there are still creases in the pillowcases." 

Laura left the bathroom and rejoined the two. "He took a shower before leaving. There's still moisture in the air. I don't think it's been that long since he left." She paused briefly before adding. "He may still be in the area. He may enjoy watching us chase him."

Frank frowned at that, not liking the idea that they may be on display to their prey. "I'm going to talk to the cops outside. I'll ask them to start a search of the surrounding area." With that he made his way to the front door, but before he'd gotten two steps out the door, he was confronted with flashing lights. Turning quickly, he re-entered the room and slammed the door shut. Both Laura and Monica looked at him quizzically, but before they had a chance to question his actions he pulled out his cell phone, and the look on his face could only be described as thunderous.

After a few seconds, someone answered his call. "Cody…..get me Lt. Phil Casey on the phone." While he was waiting to be connected, Laura moved to the front window, and pulled the curtains apart slightly, just enough to give a small view of what was going on outside. She saw immediately what had caused Frank's reaction. The press. There were probably about 5 or 6 news vans outside and from what she could see, about 15 reporters in all, many with cameras at the ready. _How the hell did they get here so quickly?? There was no one out there when we arrived ten minutes ago._

Cody came back on the line about a minute later. "Patching you through now, boss."

"Hey Frank what's up? Find anything out at the motel?"

"Oh I found plenty Phil…….how about twenty news reporters with cameras! What the hell is going on?? I thought we agreed that we need to keep as much of this off the airwaves and out of the press as possible?" Frank asked, extremely pissed off. Anyone with an ounce of knowledge about serial criminals knew that they thrived off public exposure. It satisfied their egos, made them believe they were more powerful than they really were. It was like fanning a flame.

"Whoa! Frank…..I don't know what you're talking about. There are reporters outside the motel? Now? Why haven't our men cleared them out of there?"

"You're asking me?!?!" Frank nearly yelled. "I suggest you get in touch with your men right now, or so help me……"

"OK Frank….calm down……it's done……I'll take care of it. We've got some pretty green recruits out in the field right now due to this bomber's escapades. We had to call some of them up from the Academy before they were probably ready. I'll put in the call right now. I'll have the area clear within minutes." Frank mumbled a hardly recognizable "it had better be" before slamming his cell phone shut.

Sighing heavily, Frank moved to the front window and followed Laura's lead by taking a peak through barely parted curtains. He saw the six or so cops outside all listening intently to their police band radios, and then they all went into action. True to his word, Phil's men had the area emptied within five minutes or so, and to say that the members of the press were anything but thrilled would have been an understatement. _God damned vultures! _Deep down inside, he knew they were just doing their jobs. The world had an insatiable desire to know all the down and dirty details, and they were just feeding that desire. 

Pushing away from the window, Frank turned to look at the two women. Neither one needed to be told how bad the situation was. The truth be told, they could probably give _him _an education in serial criminal behavior. However, the up side was that none of the press had been able to get a very clear view of the interior of the motel room. Or at least he hoped they hadn't.

"So what did we find?" he asked, calming down considerably.

"Other than what we see here," Laura indicated by waving her hand at the beds, "not a whole lot. He came here to make his bomb and then showered before leaving."

"The question is," Monica began, "why here? Is it because it's near the place where he's planning his next hit, or is it because it's such an out of the way location?"

"And why would he need to shower before leaving?" Frank asked bewildered. "He didn't sleep here. So why shower? Is he planning on trying to take a bomb through security somewhere, knowing that bomb sniffing dogs can smell residue on the hands? Or is he just a neat freak?"

The two women puzzled over the questions that he posed. "Or…." Laura began, "he's been sleeping somewhere where there are no bathing facilities available." 

Frank knew they weren't going to find the answers they needed at that moment. "So is there anything else we need to cover?" The two shook their heads. "Fine. We'll leave the scene to the forensic team. I doubt they'll find anything. Although rooms are cleaned between guests, we all know it's not cleaned _that _well. They may easily find prints and residue from persons who stayed here a month ago or more.

"Well….if there's nothing else, maybe we can get back to the warehouse and Monica and I can get to that briefing we never had the chance to start," Laura suggested.

"Good idea. Let's head out, but let me just make sure that none of the press is left lurking outside." Frank opened the door and peered out cautiously. After surveying the area, he was fairly certain that the coast was clear, so to speak. He motioned for the two to follow and they left to approach their car. Halfway between the motel room and their awaiting vehicle, Frank spotted a rather nervous looking uniformed officer waiting for them.

"Uhhh……Agent Donovan?" the young man began. Frank stopped walking and merely glared in response.

"I wanted to apologize for what went on here earlier. You know….with the press and all," he continued, suddenly finding something interesting to look at on the ground. He shuffled his feet a few times and found his voice again. "I wasn't informed that they weren't supposed to be in the area. I've worked a few crime scenes before, and…..well…..I've never heard orders given that said we should keep the press away completely."

Frank looked at the kid. _What is he….18?...19? Yeah, I know he's older that that but… geez…..did I ever look that young when I first started out? _As much as he knew it wasn't the cop's fault, something in him wouldn't let him absolve his mistake. Lessons to be taught.

"You have no idea how this could have jeopardized our whole case," Frank said through clenched teeth, trying to look as intimidating as he could, and from the look on the kid's face, it had worked. 

"I….I…didn't…" the cop stuttered, looking at Frank in horror.

"No you didn't….did you?" he nearly hissed at him. And before the cop could say anything further, Frank waved his hand at him in dismissal and proceeded to the car, Monica and Laura trailing behind him.

Once inside the vehicle and on their way, Laura turned in her seat so that she could face Frank. "Well I'd say _that _was a little uncalled for!" 

For a second, he had no idea what she was talking about, but when he glanced at her, he could see that she was really mad. Her eyes were blazing, her mouth drawn in a taut line, lips pressed together tightly and her cheeks slightly reddened. _Damn……she's hot when she's mad! _He turned away promptly, trying to focus on the road in front of him.

"What was uncalled for?" he asked, although he knew the answer.

"That cop! You had no right to talk to him that way! He was just following standard procedure. And who the hell are you to yell at him like that?"

"Laura…."

"Don't you **dare **Laura me, Frank Donovan!" She turned away from him and stared out the side window, her arms now folded tightly across her chest.

"The kid screwed up!" he blurted, suddenly getting mad. "Somebody needed to set him straight!"

"And I'm sure _someone_ would have. You know….I'm pretty sure he's got a superior somewhere who's chewing his ass out right now. But _noooooo………_you had to yell at him first, you just jumped in there like you always do." She turned to him once more, and could tell right off that she'd pushed a few buttons. His jaws were clenched and his hands were gripping that wheel like his life depended on it. She prayed silently that he wouldn't turn to gaze back at her. When he was mad, he got this incredibly intense look on his face, and that look never ceased to make her feel like she was melting…..melting and totally turned on.

"What the hell is **that** supposed to mean?" he asked, now totally pissed off. God, he hated that sarcastic tone to her voice.

"You always think it's your place to set the world straight! You think it's your sworn duty to fire off your mouth whenever you damn well feel like it!"

Frank gripped the steering wheel as tightly as he could, until his knuckles were literally turning white. Grinding his teeth, it was taking everything he had not to retaliate. _God….she can get me madder than any other person I've ever met! _He stole a very quick glance at her. _I don't know whether to strangle her or ravage her until she's screaming my name and clawing my back in ecstasy!_

Neither one said another word during the remainder of the trip back to the Nest, and the silence was almost deafening.

Monica, of course, had witnessed the whole exchange. At first, she whole-heartedly agreed with Laura. Donovan did tend to jump in where he was not necessarily needed. She understood him enough to know that he was only trying to teach the cop a lesson. Of course the lesson being…..don't mess with an FBI investigation and more importantly, don't fuck with Frank Donovan. 

However, at some point during the fight, she realized they weren't really fighting about what had happened. The tension between the two was almost palpable and she wasn't sure if most of that tension wasn't primarily sexual. _Now I **really** want to know what's going on with these two! _ She suddenly felt like an outsider. Like she had just witnessed a lovers' spat and it made her feel slightly voyeuristic. _Boy….it's going to be a long trip back to work._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the three arrived back at the warehouse, Frank immediately went up to his office, slamming the door behind him, which left Monica and Laura to themselves. Looking around, they noticed that Dave had some sort of program running on one of the computers, but was nowhere to be found.

Monica glanced at her watch and saw that it was nearly noon. "He probably went to get some lunch," she commented. Laura simply nodded in recognition. Monica sighed, wondering how long it was going to take for the spat to blow over. Not wanting to overstep any boundaries, real or imagined, she cautiously started a conversation with the subdued woman. 

"Are you OK?" she asked quietly.

Laura turned to Monica and could see the real concern on her face. She suddenly felt like an idiot knowing that she'd witnessed the whole exchange in the car. Sighing softly she closed her eyes for a few seconds.

"I'm fine. It's just that……" she hesitated wondering if she could confide in her fellow profiler. She wanted to talk about it….she really did. But she also knew that this was not the time and place. "He just makes me so mad sometimes, always coming off so heavy-handed….always being so……so….…Frank Donovan."

Monica smiled at that. She could understand the sentiment. It was just funny hearing it come from this woman that she had only met 3 or so hours ago. 

"I shouldn't say that," Laura quickly added with a timid smile. "I mean he's your boss and everything. You have to work with him all the time, I don't."

"You worked with him before though, right?" Monica asked.

"Yeah….I did. But that was before…….it was a while ago." She nervously looked away and went off in search of some paper and a pen to write with. 

Monica looked at her strangely. She knew she had meant to say something else and had changed her words at the last second. _The mystery continues……_

Laura soon returned with a smile and a whole different demeanor. _It's show time! _"What do you say we get started?" she began. "I know we have a lot to cover and this is probably going to be one of the few times we'll have to go over this material together."

Monica eyed the other woman suspiciously for a few more seconds, but decided to play along. "Sounds great. Let me grab the files and then let's get comfortable. There's a lot of material to go over." 

So the two did just that. Over the next several hours they reviewed every aspect of the case. The suspect's history, the bomb sites, any physical evidence remaining at each site, as well as any other pertinent information. 

Frank spent the whole afternoon sequestered in his office, and finally at around 5:00 or so he emerged and announced that he'd be at the police station meeting with Lt. Casey. Then without so much as a glance in their direction, he left.

From the second Frank opened his office door, Monica watched Laura as her eyes were glued to his every movement, and she could have sworn she heard a small sigh escape her lips. Not a sigh of longing, but one of sadness or regret. Before Laura caught her staring, Monica quickly looked away and busied herself with the papers in front of her.

An hour or so later, the rest of the crew began to join them, as the next shift was ready to take over at about 7:00 or so. Frank, however, didn't return to the Nest. He called a few minutes before 7 and asked if everyone was in place to take over. David, who answered the phone, assured him that Alex, Jake and Cody were ready. He told Dave to tell the team that he'd be out for a while but to call him on his cell phone if needed.

Laura listened to the message and felt the whole situation was her fault. She'd run him off and all because of some nonsensical argument. When seven o'clock came she told Alex and Jake that she was heading home and that, like Donovan, she could be reached by cell. Grabbing her things she beat a hasty retreat. She needed to talk to him. She needed to apologize. 

After she'd left, Alex looked at Monica and asked, "What the hell went on here this afternoon?"

Monica kind of shrugged but gave Alex a look that said 'I'll tell you later when so many ears aren't around'. Alex gave a short nod of understanding.

A short time after taking over, the team received a call from the PD saying that they'd just gotten a tip on the hotline concerning a man at a downtown bar. Someone spouting off to the bartender that he knew where the bomber could be found. After writing down the pertinent facts, Alex and Jake left to check it out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two arrived at the bar a few minutes after 8:00. They went in and introduced themselves to the bartender and he pointed them in the direction of the man in question. They turned and approached the table where the man held audience with three of his drinking buddies. Jake and Alex exchanged a quick glance. Both knew in an instant that this was not going to lead anywhere. Like so many other tips that they'd followed, this guy just wanted to make himself sound important. In other words…..he didn't know shit. But Jake still got a perverse pleasure out of seeing the man turn green and come damn near close to soiling himself when he was shown their FBI badges. _Soooo busted!_

After a few minutes alone with the man, enough to make sure that he really was just running his mouth off, Alex and Jake exited the bar and started making their way back to Jake's waiting vehicle. But a few steps later, Jake suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Alex looked over at him bewildered and saw him staring intently ahead of them. For a split second, she thought he'd spotted their suspect, but something in his eyes told her this wasn't the case. Looking around, she couldn't see what he was attentively focused on.

"Jake? What is it?"

At first he didn't answer, instead he moved two or three steps to his left so that he could get a better view of something. "Come here," he waved at her with his hand, motioning for her to step closer to him. When she did so, he pointed directly in front of him.

Again, Alex didn't see what was so mesmerizing about the scene before them. It was a rather busy section of town and several dozen people could be seen walking up and down the street. She was about to ask for an explanation, when she saw what he was intently staring at. Walking hand in hand down the street away from them was one Frank Donovan and one Laura Daniels. 

Jake and Alex exchanged a rather bemused look. So this was their boss' big secret. He had a girlfriend. 

"I told you," Jake finally stated.

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes. She was never going to hear the end of it. "Jake….."

"No…..uh uh……you just about told me I was crazy! I _knew_ there was something about her. Admit it," he demanded smugly. "I was right."

Alex shook her head and relented, knowing that she was not going to get a moment's peace until she did. "All right….all right," she stated, her hands up in a supplicating gesture. "You were right. Happy now?" 

Jake smiled triumphantly. It wasn't nearly enough but it would have to do for now, because at the moment, there was something he wanted to do.

"Let's follow them."

"Jake! Are you crazy?!?! _That_ is one highly trained government agent there," she said pointing in Frank's direction, "and on top of all that he's our boss. A boss who would fire us in an instant for even considering it."

"Come on……you know you want to! You're as curious as I am. Just admit it."

Alex looked at her partner and she had to confess that the situation certainly had her curious. If Donovan were open to them about his personal life, she wouldn't be the slightest bit interested. But seeing as he wasn't……..

"I cannot believe I'm even considering this," she said as she looked up at the darkening sky as if pleading for guidance.

Jake gave a short laugh and then took off in the direction that Frank and Laura were heading in. Shaking her head in exasperation, Alex followed closely behind him.

The two trailed the couple for well over a block. Shortly after they started following them, Frank let go of Laura's hand and trailed his hand caressingly over her back and then to Jake and Alex's surprise he leaned over and kissed her gently behind the ear. Laura responded by wrapping her arm around Frank's waist and leaning in to give him a tender kiss on the lips. The two continued walking but never broke eye contact, their arms now wrapped possessively around each other. A short time later, Jake and Alex lost sight of them because of the crowd. When the way before them cleared a bit, they realized that they'd lost them. Jake looked around almost frantically, trying to figure out where they'd gone. Looking around at the buildings, he realized that he had no clue. Most were small businesses or offices and the majority of those had already closed for the day.

"I think we lost them," he stated when he turned to look at Alex. But she, however, had found something else that held her interest, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. Quickly grabbing Jake's arm she hauled him roughly over to the front of the nearest building.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked annoyed.

"Ssshhhh! They'll hear you," she whispered to him.

"Who?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Who the hell have we been following for the last three blocks, idiot!" she again said in hushed tones.

"Where are they?" Jake asked as he tried once more to look around the street for the two.

Alex once again pulled him back. "They're around the corner," she told him motioning with her hand to the alleyway that separated the building they were in front of from the next.

"What the hell are they doing in a dark alleyway?"

Alex gave him a look that said 'are you seriously this stupid or are you just faking it'. Jake looked at her perplexed for a second longer and then the light bulb came on over his head.

"Holy shit! They're going at it in a filthy downtown alleyway?"

"From what I saw…..yeah. He had her pinned up against the wall and she had her skirt hiked up and her legs wrapped around his waist. Granted I didn't get the full floorshow, but I have a pretty fair idea what uncontrolled passion looks like when I see it."

Jake made a move to peek around the corner, but Alex grabbed hold of him and prevented him from moving. 

"No Jake!"

"Ahhh come on…..you got to see," he said with a slight whine to his voice.

"Yeah I did, but it's not like I was exactly looking for it. They were just kind of…..there. You know what I mean?" He looked at her dejectedly, but he saw her point. It's not like he really wanted to _watch,_ he just wanted to make sure that Alex wasn't just yanking his chain. 

While the two were still trying to figure out what their next course of action would be, they both heard footsteps in the alley. Plastering themselves up along the wall, hoping against hope not to be seen, they practically held their breath waiting to see what was going to happen next. 

They saw Frank and Laura emerge from the alley hand in hand once again and this time they seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. Jake and Alex looked at each other for a split second and then made a bee line to follow, but this time they had a hard time keeping up. _Where the hell are they going in such a big hurry?_

They soon got their answer. About two blocks down, Frank and Laura entered one of the buildings. Jake and Alex approached stealthily not knowing exactly where the couple had gone in. When they approached the building, Jake and Alex stopped and after looking at the name on the front of the structure, both broke into wicked grins.

The Hyatt Regency Hotel.

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	6. Distractions

****

Revelations

Chapter Six

Alex and Jake returned to the warehouse sometime after midnight. After following Frank and Laura (and getting an eyeful to boot), they'd received yet another lead and had followed up on it, leading to yet another dead end. Although both were getting tired of chasing their tails, they, for _some_ reason, still had the energy of college students hopped up on a half bottle of No-Doz. The type of explosive energy that comes with having an incredible piece of gossip to share, and boy did they have a doozy!

Alex had attempted, at least at first, to convince Jake that they should keep the information to themselves. However, Jake soon wore down her resistance, insisting that this was news they just _had to _share. When she thought it over, she knew that she was going to tell Monica and after that, it just didn't seem right to keep Cody out of the loop. And as for telling David…..well the jury was still out on that verdict. 

So when they arrived back at the Nest, Jake was nearly bursting. Walking in, he saw Monica and Cody both working away at their respective work stations, and for a split second, he almost considered postponing the announcement. But then……_nah! I'll never make it 'til morning! _

Neither he nor Alex said a word to the two working away diligently, and eventually both Monica and Cody turned around, thinking it odd that the pair hadn't uttered a peep. What they saw was Alex and Jake both leaning against the conference room table, grinning like Cheshire cats.

"What?" Cody asked perplexed and more than a little curious. "Did you find out anything?"

"Oh…..I'd say we found out _plenty_!" Jake replied giving Alex a conspiratorial wink.

"Spill it!" Monica commanded, somehow knowing that this was going to be worth it.

"Well…..I don't know. Maybe this really _is _something we shouldn't talk about," Jake responded, suddenly feigning remorse.

"Shaw! I swear to God! Don't make me come over there and hurt you!" Monica threatened.

"All right…all right….just kidding!" _She probably would hurt me too! "_Well…..after we finished up at that bar, we were heading back to my truck when we saw him."

For a split second, Monica thought that he was talking about the bomber, but she could tell by Jake's amused look that this wasn't who he was talking about.

"Who did you see?" Cody quickly jumped in before she could say the words.

"Donovan," Alex announced.

"OK…..soooooo……you saw Donovan," Cody prompted.

Alex and Jake glanced at each other, silently trying to decide who was going to be the one to actually spill the beans. Somehow, a decision was made. Alex turned her head to face the other two.

"He wasn't alone."

"Holy crap!" Cody exclaimed. "You caught him with a hooker!!" He looked somewhat shocked, with his eyes bulging out.

"No! You idiot!" Jake frowned at the tech-op. "Jesus Cody! Don't be an ass! Could you _seriously_ see Donovan trolling the streets for a working girl?" Cody looked utterly embarrassed and had even turned a slight shade of red, especially since he had all three of them giving him disapproving glares.

"Sorry," he mumbled. Jake was still staring at him as if he'd just told grown an extra head. A look that was somewhere between disbelief and disgust. Looking up at him, Cody added indignantly, "I said I was sorry. What more do you want?"

Shaking his head, Jake didn't know what bothered him more, the fact that Cody could sometimes be a complete ass or the fact that he had totally killed the moment. He was pretty sure it was the second one. 

"As we were about to say, before _someone_ totally jumped the gun, we saw him walking down the street, hand in hand……" Alex stopped, pausing for effect.

"If you think I won't hurt you either, you got another thing coming!" Monica stated, getting a little tired of the teasing.

Alex stared at the other woman amused. "…..walking hand in hand with Laura Daniels," she finished. Monica raised her eyebrows, but didn't look entirely surprised. 

Cody, on the other hand, looked shocked and devastated. _She wouldn't….she couldn't……damn!….it's always the tall, dark and handsome types that get the really hot chicks!_

"It gets better," Jake added seeing the initial shock die down.

"Oh God….what else?" Monica was now afraid to ask.

"We followed them down the street for awhile, but we lost them, or at least we thought we had," Jake informed the two.

"And then I spotted them again," Alex informed them.

"Go on," Monica prompted since Cody had still been rendered speechless.

"I saw them a little ways down an alleyway, and let's just say that they were…..getting very well acquainted with each other."

"Oh dear lord! They weren't……" Monica trailed off knowing Alex and Jake would get her drift.

Alex shook her head. "No, but if they'd stayed there much longer, who knows what might have occurred.

"If they didn't stay there, did you continue following them?" 

Jake chuckled. "Of course we did. But we didn't have too far to go before they stopped and entered one of the buildings in that area."

"Uh huh….." Monica prodded.

"The Hyatt Regency." Alex and Jake both broke out into those wicked smiles again, and Monica soon followed suit, leaving only Cody who was still reeling from the news.

"Wow," Monica stated simply. 

"Yeah," Alex said. "I know." 

"I mean really," Monica began. "I would have never guessed him for the type that had to find the nearest hotel for a quickie."

"I didn't know the Hyatt rented by the hour," Cody interjected having finally gotten over the initial shock. The other three agents couldn't help but chuckle at that one.

Alex glanced at Jake and saw a mischievous glint in his eye. "Jake?" she started warily. "What are you planning?"

He grinned back at her and said, "You know…..we do have both of their cell phone numbers."

"No," Alex flatly refused. She wasn't sure exactly what the details were to this master plan, but she was pretty sure she didn't want anything to do with it. "Whatever it is Jake……forget it."

"Ah come on! We have been presented with an opportunity that we'll never have again. A chance to play a little prank on our fearless leader."

"No Jake," Monica stated also.

"At least hear me out. We call one of their numbers, and since they're technically on call, they have to answer. Then……"  


"No Jake," Monica said getting up to leave.

"Forget it," Alex added before joining her.

Jake looked at Cody with his eyebrow lifted, as if asking, 'are you in or out'.

Cody shook his head in mock disgust while adding, "Don't be an ass Jake. What are you sixteen again? Giving prank calls?" Before walking away though he leaned close to Jake and whispered, "Good plan, but we'd never hear the end of it if we tried it." Looking around for Monica and Alex and seeing that they were already preoccupied, he added, "And besides, those two would kill us if we did." Slapping Jake on the shoulder in a 'sorry anyway bub' gesture, Cody too walked away. 

Having enjoyed their little diversion, the four actually got back to work, but as the minutes and hours ticked by, all four of them couldn't help but replay the information through their heads. 

Sometime around 4:00AM or so, Alex suddenly turned to Monica and whispered, "Do you think they'll come in in the morning together, or do you think they'll play it cool and do the 'let's take separate cars' thing to throw us off?" 

Monica couldn't help but smile at that. "You have to remember though…..they have no idea that _we_ know about the two of them being together or even that we suspected that there was something going on."

"Good point," Alex responded, tapping her pen on the table.

"I say separate cars," Jake interjected having heard the whole conversation.

"Nah…..if they think we don't know, then why try to play us?" Cody stated.

"I have a fifty that says separate cars," Jake declared. Fishing the bill out of his wallet, he waved it in the air and said, "Any takers?" He eyed the others questioningly. 

"I'll take that bet," Cody announced, presenting his money.

"You guys are crazy if you think I'm participating in this," Monica admonished trying to look as stern as possible. "At least make it worth my while. $100 says they get here within five minutes of each other." Reaching for her purse she placed her money on the table next to her.

Jake smiled and said, "All right….I say one or the other arrives 10 minutes after the first. Alex?"

Alex paused and considered the proposition. "I think you're both wrong. I say it'll be at least 15 minutes if not longer in between. Cody? What do you say?"

The tech-op retrieved another $50 and stated, "I'm still sticking with my original idea. I say they come in together."

Monica looked around at her other team members and said, "We're pathetic. You all know that, don't you?" The three laughed but somehow didn't feel ashamed. 

"All right. Let's recap. Cody says they enter together," Jake started. "Monica….you win if they get here between 1 and 5 minutes apart. I say between 6 and 10, and Alex gets the pot if their entrances are at least 15 or more minutes apart. Sound right?" The three nodded in response. "Good. Now we can get back to work. Oh and Cody….you're in charge of clocking their entrances. OK?"

"No problem. In fact the security system is set up to record every time the door is opened. We'll just check the time lapse if it's too close to call." 

Attempting once again to actually accomplish something besides gossiping, they busied themselves with preparing reports for the day shift. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometime around 6:00AM, the four heard the front door open, and all turned, anticipating who may or may not be entering.

Donovan came into view and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw all four agents staring at him intently and somewhat expectantly. And he could have sworn at least one or two of them had craned their necks to try to see around him. 

"What's wrong?" he immediately asked, bothered by the unreadable looks on their faces.

Thinking quickly, Jake responded, "Ummm……nothing's wrong. From the message you gave Dave last night, we kind of expected you to arrive before now. I guess we misunderstood what you told him."

Frank looked at them and somehow didn't believe what he'd just been told. He had nothing to base the feeling on, but something just didn't add up. He chose to let it drop, at least for the moment.

"So do you have anything new to report?" he asked, changing the subject. 

Alex began to outline the evenings activities to him, but again he was annoyed by some underlying current he couldn't quite name. Then he began to notice that one, two, three or all four of them kept looking at their watches or at the clock on the wall. 

"Excuse me!" he nearly yelled, interrupting Alex's dissertation. "What the hell is going on? Do you all have someplace better to be at the moment?" he asked clearly irritated.

The four agents looked stunned. They hadn't realized that they'd been that obvious. Looking around at each other sheepishly, they recognized that they'd been acting like a bunch of juveniles. 

"Sorry," Alex apologized for the group. Looking at the others for support, she continued. "I guess maybe the stress is getting to us. It's been a long night," she stated, lying through her teeth.

Donovan frowned at her. He knew she was lying. He could see it in the way she wouldn't look him directly in the eyes, and when he looked at the other three, they too avoided eye contact with him. _What the hell is this all about? _He folded his arms across his chest and continued to stare at them. For a split second, he wondered if dividing the team up had been a good idea. With him working the day shift and the rest working the evening, perhaps they'd started to revert to their old undisciplined ways. _Jesus Frank….it's only been one night! What could have happened in one night? _ He paused at that thought. _Actually….quite a lot can happen in one night! _Recalling his own activities from the previous evening, it took everything he had not to break into a leering grin. 

Focusing again on the current situation, whatever it was, he decided to try a different tactic. "I realize that this hasn't been an easy case….for any of us. We've basically asked you to give up any semblance of a normal life and completely give yourself over to the job. But this is important. I can't stress that enough. There's a madman on the loose and for all we know his next hit could be mere seconds away. If we lose focus of that fact for even one second, we could miss something of vital importance, something that could end his reign of terror."

He stopped momentarily and watched their faces. Not a single person could look at him, and for his own part, he felt like a hypocrite. Here he was spouting words about not losing focus, and he was fairly sure that he was the most unfocused person in the room. He'd known from the moment that his boss had suggested that he and Laura work together, that he'd have a difficult if not impossible time keeping his mind on his work. Yesterday had proven that fact. From the moment he'd touched her in his office that morning, he'd thought of nothing else but how to satisfy the ache that her mere presence had instilled in him. Sighing inwardly, he broke himself from his reverie.

"Ok….I don't know what went on here last night, and I suppose I can't fault you for taking a few minutes to enjoy yourselves, but the fact of the matter is, if we're not paying attention to the work at hand at a pivotal moment, peoples' lives may be lost." He let those words sink in for a few moments before adding, "Let's not lose sight of that fact." 

He stayed there a few more minutes and watched as his team members nervously fumbled around with papers trying to act busy, hoping that he'd go away. He planned on giving them their wish. "If you need me, I'll be in my office. But before your shift ends, I still want a full report of any case related activities from last night." And with that he slowly ascended the steps, entered his office, but left his door open, a kind of constant reminder that he wasn't totally out of hearing range.

After Donovan left them alone, the four didn't say a word. In fact, besides the occasional sound of rustling papers, not a sound could be heard. They all knew that he was right. They'd let themselves become distracted by something as frivolous as a suspected love affair. And even though they knew that Frank was dealing with his own demons over that one, they were the ones who'd been on duty last night, not him. If they'd missed something because of it…….the ramifications were mind-boggling. 

Alex glanced over at Monica. "We really screwed up, didn't we?" she asked softly, being all too well aware that Frank could hear her if she spoke loud enough.

Monica sighed heavily and returned, "Yeah….we did. I swear…..I feel like gum stuck to the bottom of somebody's filthy shoes."

"Do you think we should go up there and apologize?" Jake asked tentatively. The four glanced at each other, but none seemed to eager to do just that, at least not yet.

"What if he asks any further questions?" Alex inquired. "Do _you_ want to be the one to tell him what _really_ went on last night?" she asked him in return. Jake shot her a 'oh hell no!' look. The silence returned, the subject being temporarily dropped.

"There is one piece of good news though," Cody offered. The three looked at him for explanation. Looking up at the clock, he said, "Looks like Alex is $300 richer." Alex rolled her eyes and looked away trying to feign disgust, but the sides of her mouth twitched, wanting desperately to turn into a smile. She glanced sideways at the others and she saw the same reaction. Shaking her head, the four started to put the finishing touches on their daily (or in this case, nightly) reports. 

A few minutes before 7:00AM, Frank once again made an appearance. His attitude was all business and his demeanor could only be described as somber. Silently he sat through their reports, nodding now and again in understanding. As the last of them finished up, he simply took their files and once again disappeared upstairs. Looking around, they figured that that was their clue that they'd been dismissed, so to speak. 

"I don't know about the rest of you," Jake began, "but I need to get out of here for awhile. Anyone want to go grab some breakfast?" he asked fishing out his car keys.

"I'm up for that," Cody answered. "Ladies?" 

"Not me," Alex responded. I just want to take a hot shower and crash for about 8 to 10 hours.

"Nah, I think I'll just stay around here. But could you bring me back one of those cinnamon crunch bagels with cream cheese?" Monica asked.

"No problem," Jake stated. "We'll be back in about an hour or so. Come on Cody." The two left and Alex headed to the showers, leaving Monica to herself for awhile. 

She sat down in her chair and turned to peer up at Donovan's office window. She wondered for a moment or two if she shouldn't take it upon herself to approach the man. It was obvious that this morning's fiasco was not what was really bothering him. Even after everything Alex and Jake had told them, she still had the feeling that there was so much more to the story. The behavior that they'd described wasn't anything like what she would have expected from their very controlled, disciplined boss. This Laura Daniels had rocked his world and in a big way. And for some reason, she wasn't sure if that was such a good thing. 

Laura arrived a few minutes before 7:30. She looked around the warehouse and at first thought no one was there, but then Dave emerged from one of the storage rooms carrying some sort of circuit board. 

"Where is everyone?" she quietly asked.

"Well….Monica decided to run home for a while to pick up her mail and stuff. Alex is outside somewhere smoking. Jake and Cody went out to breakfast and Frank is up in his office. So pretty much I've had the run of the place." 

She smiled at him and nodded. She set her things down, got herself comfortable and proceeded to review the team's reports from last night. She paused after a few moments and glanced up at Frank's open door. Maybe she should go up and let him know that she had arrived, but somehow she knew that he was already aware of that fact. Call it a psychic connection or just really good hearing. With that she once again resumed her reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After leaving the agents for the second time and retreating to his office once more, Frank became totally immersed in thought. He had a problem….a big one, and it had nothing at all to do with his team's antics. Laura. 

He sighed heavily and wondered how in the hell he was going to be able to make it through this case. He couldn't get her off his mind. He had thought that after last night's rendezvous, his mind would be a little more focused, but unfortunately it had had just the opposite effect. He couldn't deny it, she consumed him….body, mind and soul. Not even realizing what he was doing, his mind drifted back to last evening…….

__

After meeting with Phil Casey at the police headquarters, he'd called the team and told them that he wouldn't be returning to the warehouse. He couldn't face her….not just yet. The anger that he'd felt earlier was still lingering and he worried that if he faced her just then, yet another confrontation would result. What had happened earlier in the car was inexcusable on both of their parts and to have had it happen in front of another team member was mortifying. 

He drove around for a short time after his meeting. Not really going anywhere, more like staying away from somewhere, or more importantly, someone. A while later he just parked his car along one of the city's streets and began walking. He wandered aimlessly for a short time, but soon decided that he should at least get something to eat. Taking note of where he was exactly, he was happy to see that he wasn't too far away from one of his favorite restaurants. 

Entering the establishment, he made a detour. Instead of asking to be seated right away, he instead made his way to the bar, intent on having at least one drink just to calm his nerves a bit. So he meandered down the bar, took a seat as far away from the door as possible, and ordered a drink. 

He sat there for many minutes and just stared at the glass in his hands, having yet to raise it to his mouth. For some reason, he was in no hurry to feel it's numbing effects. Is that what he wanted to do? Numb himself so that he wouldn't feel the turmoil going on inside of him right now? 

As he continued to stare at the glass as if it were a crystal ball that could tell him the way out of this situation, he suddenly felt a gentle hand placed on his back. He didn't need to turn around to find out who possessed such a tender touch. He closed his eyes and sighed, either out of relief or agony he wasn't sure. Slowly he turned his head and opened his eyes.

Laura watched his reaction to her presence. When she entered the place (she instinctively knew that this was where she'd find him), and saw him sitting at the bar, she immediately aware that he was still upset by the day's events. Frank hardly ever drank, it just wasn't his way. And to see him here with a drink in his hand was very telling indeed. When he turned to look at her, she saw so many emotions flit across his eyes………regret, love, desire, and maybe even a little sorrow, and she knew that he could see the same mirrored back in her own. 

She'd come here to apologize, the fight that she'd started earlier was entirely her fault and to have talked to him that way in front of others was unforgivable. But she came here willing to beg for that forgiveness just the same.

Their eyes remained locked on one another, neither one quite sure what to say or where to begin. Frank turned fully so that he could face her without looking over his shoulder, swiveling on his bar stool in order to do so. She moved the hand that she had still had on his back, and now placed it on his muscular thigh, just above the knee. Her touch was light, but Frank swore it felt like her hand was burning him, a not entirely unpleasant sensation.

"Laura………" he said barely above a whisper, but that single word was drenched with every emotion that he felt for this woman. For so very long, she had been the one shining beacon of goodness and love in his sometimes dismal existence, and even though his work sometimes tore them apart, he always returned to her and hungrily consumed what she so willingly gave to him. 

He reached out finally and pulled her closer to him, effectively wedging her between his strong legs, softly stroking the sides of her narrow waist. She in turn placed her hands on his chest and lightly traced her fingertips in slow lazy circles. She tore her eyes away from his and looked down.

A small smile curved her lips, "You wore this today on purpose," she stated quietly, lightly touching the black turtleneck that was stretched across his muscular frame. He couldn't help but smile in response. He couldn't deny her statement. He had, in fact, chosen to wear all black today because he knew that she liked him in that color.

"And what about you," he countered, "you just happened to have worn my favorite outfit?" She returned to his gaze and smiled mischievously. 

She looked down at her own ensemble. She'd chosen to wear a dusty rose colored skirt that came to just above her knees with a rather significant slit up the back coupled with a pale pink light sweater that was dipped just enough in the front to show her cleavage. The fact that the whole outfit fit snugly to each of her rounded curves did not escape her notice, or evidently his either.

"I just wanted to make sure that I caught your attention, Agent Donovan," she said seductively. He nearly groaned at her response, his whole body tightening. 

His hands became more bold in their exploration of her body. The thumb on his right hand that had been softly caressing the outer swell of her round breast, suddenly moved to gently stroke her nipple through the front of her sweater. She gasped in response and her eyes flew to his. He saw and felt her immediate response. Her eyes darkened in passion from not only what he was doing to her but also because they were in such a public place. He continued to slowly drive her over the edge and could feel through the fabric of her sweater that her nipple was taut and erect and just begging for more of his attention.

It was too much for her, she wanted him to stop and yet she was so very afraid that he would. She pulled herself even closer to him and brought her mouth within a hair's breadth away from his. She didn't move at first, she merely teased, willing him not to make the first move. And when she was sure that neither one could take anymore, she lightly brought her lips to his. The light caress was maddening to them both. She brushed her lips against his, not really kissing and not really pulling away either. She continued to torture him this way for some minutes and could tell that he was becoming just as aroused as she was. Pressed firmly against him, nestled between his legs, she could feel him hardening against her.

"Take me, Frank," she whispered against his lips.

Frank pulled back and looked at her. Good God….did she have any idea how she could drive him insane with such a simple command. He audibly growled this time and brought her almost roughly against him, taking possession of her mouth. His kiss was anything but gentle and caring. Instead it was almost like he was branding her with the intensity of his passion.. It took every ounce of will power he had not to take her right there in front of everyone in the bar and restaurant. Crowds be damned!

Instead, he quickly ended the kiss, threw some money on the bar, grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him as he hastily exited the bar. While he did all this, she smiled secretively to herself. She knew exactly what buttons to push and where, so to speak, to push them.

Frank broke from his daydream and turned his chair so that he could stare out the window at the steadily brightening sky. He sighed heavily still caught up in remembering the previous night's activities.

"Is it that bad?" he heard from the open doorway. He turned quickly and saw Laura leaning against the doorframe with a slightly bemused look on her face.

He smiled in return, his eyes raking appreciatively over her form. From that smile alone, she suspected what he'd been thinking about when she'd neared his office. And when she saw the way he looked her up and down, her suspicions were confirmed. 

"Now what could you have possibly been thinking about?" she asked teasingly. As she did so, she stepped into the room and closed the door quietly. "Something you want to talk about? Or maybe we could find something else to do…….something besides talking."

"Laura," he began, "there is nothing more that I would like to do than _not_ to talk to you, but we both know this isn't the time or place." 

She stopped her advance having nearly reached his desk before he spoke. She knew he was right. In fact just this morning, they'd talked about just this type of situation. While at the office or in front of the others, they needed to be completely professional, and both had promised that yesterday's events would not be repeated. 

He could completely understand how the conversation might have slipped her mind, recalling the fact that his hands had been doing torturous things to her while they showered and tried to talk at the same time. Looking at her now, he saw the hesitative smile that graced her lips and he secretly berated himself for trying to stick to their resolution. 

Rising from his desk chair, he approached her. Reaching out, he took hold of her arms and drew her close to him. Raising one hand, he gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. The caress was gentle and loving and she closed her eyes in response, leaning into his touch. 

He looked at the beautiful woman before him and knew that he was powerless when she was around. Agreement be damned, he was determined to kiss her. And just as he was preparing to do so, he heard loud voices and the sound of someone running quickly up the stairs.

Just as he was pulling himself away from Laura, the office door opened loudly and Jake came barreling through.

"Donovan," he began, almost out of breath, "we've got trouble." And with that statement, he thrust the morning's newspaper at his boss. 

Frank grabbed the paper and opened it to look at the front page. Laura watched as the thunderclouds gathered in his eyes, and she knew that whatever it was, it had to be incredibly bad. After scanning the paper for several more seconds, he began issuing orders. 

"I'm going to contact FBI headquarters, and while I do, I want you to personally go down to the PD and physically bring Lt. Phil Casey here. Got it?"

"It'll be my pleasure," Jake answered and quickly turned to leave.

Frank walked away and tried to compose himself. Facing the windows, he tried to figure out the best course of action to deal with the latest problem.

"Frank….what is it? What's wrong?" Laura asked timidly, afraid of the answer. When Frank turned to look at her, she saw the overwhelming rage in his eyes. Instead of answering her, however, he simply handed her the paper so that she could see for herself.

It didn't take her long to see what he'd been looking at. Right on the front page, in full color, was a picture taken of Frank exiting the motel that they had visited yesterday. Not only that, but the caption under the photo identified him by name and relayed the fact that he was the one heading up the investigation. 

"Oh my God," was all she could seem to utter. This was monumentally bad. The paper had now given the bomber a new target, and not only that, but they'd revealed the identity of the leader of an undercover investigation unit. 

"It gets better," he finally spoke. "Read the first paragraph." 

Turning her eyes back to the paper, she read, "Police spokesman for the investigation, Lt. Phil Casey, confirmed yesterday that the FBI was indeed heading up the taskforce attempting to corner and bring to justice what the people of Chicago have begun to refer to as 'the mad bomber.' Casey also confirmed that Special Agent Frank Donovan……"

"Oh God, Frank….he didn't…….what are we going to do? Does he have any idea what type of danger he put you and your family in?" She looked up into his eyes and knew that if Phil Casey didn't know already, he sure as hell was going to find out soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


  



	7. What did he just say!

****

Revelations

Chapter Seven

Laura continued to stare at the newspaper that she held in her hands and hardly noticed when Frank breezed by her as he made his way downstairs. Her first instinct was to panic. She knew what all of this could mean to their case, and more importantly, she knew what it could mean for Frank's safety. The newspaper editors might as well have just drawn a bullseye on Frank's back. And it wasn't just Frank's safety that they needed to worry about. At that thought, her blood ran cold. As quickly as her feet could carry her, she made her way to the bottom floor.

She saw that Frank was standing away from the others talking heatedly on his cell phone. Jake of course had already left and she deduced form the fact that she couldn't see Alex, that she had gone along with him. Cody and Dave were both pounding away on their keyboards obviously following some directive that they'd just been given and Monica was once again reviewing the suspect's file hoping to unearth some clue that they'd all somehow missed the first few hundred times. 

She needed to talk to Frank, but there was no way that she was going to disturb him while he was on the phone. So she paced back and forth and kept glancing at the newspaper's front page. _Oh dear God….please let this all work out well. _

A few minutes later, Frank ended his call. He turned toward Laura and saw the terrified look in her eyes. He knew what she was thinking, he didn't need to hear the words actually come from her lips for him to know. 

She marched up to him and said, "You have to get them out of there, Frank." He nodded and continued toward his office. But she wasn't finished with him. She grabbed his arm and attempted to halt his progress.

"I mean it Frank….we have no idea how this guy is going to react to that article. You need to make sure they're safe."

"I know. I've already made all of the necessary arrangements," he tried to assure her.

Meanwhile, Monica, Cody and Dave had all heard the exchange and were puzzled by what they were talking about.

"You need to make sure _who _is safe?" Cody inquired. 

Laura and Frank both continued as if the question had never been posed. Cody and Monica exchanged a strange look that said 'what the hell are they talking about and why are they acting like we're not even in the room'. Frank returned to his office with Laura hot on his heels. 

Frank picked up his office phone and prepared himself for the ensuing conversation. He dialed the number and waited to be connected, and as he did so, he glanced up and saw Laura intently staring at him, arms folded across her chest and looking extremely nervous. He told her quickly, "It's all right…..I'll take care of everything. Trust me." She nodded and seemed to calm down a certain amount.

Just then the phone was answered. "This is Frank Donovan…..get me Craig Stevens." As the operator forwarded his call he pulled the mouthpiece away and said, "Why don't you help Monica out? I know at this point there may not be a lot for you to do, but it'll help keep your mind occupied." She didn't really want to go, but he was right, she did need something to keep her mind off the troubles at hand, and besides, she could read the underlying subtext to his request……he didn't want her around when he talked to his boss. Understanding this, she relented and went back down the stairs. 

Once again alone, he waited until his boss got on the line while at the same time trying to calm his anger and nerves.

"Frank? I didn't expect to hear from you until later today. Have you found a verifiable lead?"

"No. That's not why I called. There's been some unexpected trouble."

"Frank….what is it?"

Sighing first, he informed his boss of the latest development. "I was just presented with the morning newspaper and my picture is on the front page along with my name, position, etc."

Frank had expected to hear Craig start yelling, but instead he was met with silence. "Craig? Did you hear what I said?"

"I heard you Frank," came the controlled voice on the other end of the line. "You know what this mean, don't you?"

"Of course I do. It's compromised my ability to perform as leader of this UC team."

"It's done more than that……a hell of a lot more. By having your face on the front page of that newspaper, you are now a prime target for our suspect."

"I know all that Craig. I didn't call to have you tell me the obvious, I called to let you know that we have a major complication."

"We, Frank? And exactly how do you expect to continue to function in your current position?"

Frank froze. He didn't like where this conversation was leading. "Exactly what is that supposed to imply, Craig? That I can't do my job now?" He asked, barely able to hide the slight edge of anger that was slowly working it's way up his spine.

"Frank…..you've become part of the problem now. If we leave you where you're at, we'll have to devote manpower to protect both you and your family, not to mention that wherever you go now you'll be identified as being part of the investigation. You've become a liability instead an asset, and I can't have that."

"I understand your concern," Frank began, "I really do. But to take me away from this investigation at this crucial time would be tantamount to giving up and allowing the bomber to roam free and unimpeded."

"Frank….."

"No. Let me finish. As for my safety, let me worry about that. I've taken care of any necessary precautions. And as for presence out in the field, I still have six competent agents working under my command and combined with the police force at my disposal, I can limit the amount of time that I actually spend away from the command center."

"Sounds like you've covered all the bases," Craig replied blandly. "But I still don't think this is a good idea."

"And why is that?" Frank asked hesitantly.

"Frank……you're an outstanding agent. No one's questioning that, but what I am questioning is whether you can remain objective now that the case has taken a personal twist."

Frank thought about what he'd said for a few moments. Could he remain objective, he asked himself? If it was just a question of his own safety, he wouldn't have thought twice about it, but he had others to consider, other lives to protect.

"Craig, look at it this way. You're right, this has taken a decidedly personal turn, but that may actually work to our advantage."

"And how's that?"

"I need to be the one in charge of this investigation. I need to make sure that the ones I love are protected. Do you understand that? I need to do that, and the best way I can think of to accomplish that is to hunt down this man and end that threat."

"You sound rather determined, Agent Donovan."

"I am. Make no mistake about that. And let me just add, that if I'm taken off this case, I'll do what I can from the sidelines."

"So what you're telling me is that you'll continue this investigation with or without my authorization. Am I correct?"

Sighing heavily, Frank answered, "I hope it won't come to that, but yes."

"Very well Frank. But don't make me regret this decision."

"You won't, I promise you that. I'll call you later and discuss any further plans."

"All right, and good luck."

Visibly relaxing, Frank answered, "Thank you."

As Frank hung up, Craig Stevens switched off his own phone, and rose from the seat behind his desk. Pacing to the window, he looked out at the street below him and thought through his recent conversation. _I'd say that Frank Donovan sounded pretty determined………and all it took was a push in the right direction. _Smiling to himself, he thought back to another conversation he'd had with one Lt. Phil Casey of the Chicago PD just days earlier.

__

"I'm not saying that you should give the press any specific information about the case. I'm just suggesting that we light a fire of sorts under this investigation."

"If you don't mind me asking, but how is Frank going to react to this? I mean after all, I'm the one he's going to blame," Casey asked rather nervously.

"I can tell you exactly how Frank is going to react……Yes, he'll be upset and I'm sure some harsh words will be said. I'm sure it's nothing that a man in your position couldn't handle. And then Lt., Frank will move hell and high water to make sure that this bomber is brought to justice. He'll protect the people closest to him the only way he can, by bringing in our suspect."

"I don't know……this is like betrayal………you're sure there's no other way?"

"Lt., listen to me. This investigation has gone on longer than it ever should have. Drastic measures need to be taken. Do you understand that? This is war……and sometimes we do unpleasant things in the name of justice."

"I suppose," Casey replied. "I just wish there was some other way."

"I understand….I really do, but just remember what I said earlier. The FBI will be indebted to you for this. I understand that your department may get passed over for some federal funding. With the right words to the right people, I can change that. Wouldn't your police force benefit from having an up-to-date crime lab, new cruisers or perhaps even just being able to bring extra officers on the payroll?"

"Of course……the funding would be extremely helpful, but you already know that."

"I do. So do we have an arrangement?" Craig asked expectantly.

"I suppose we do. I'll take care of everything. I assume, of course, that this conversation never took place."

Smiling broadly, Craig replied, "I think that would be for the best. And for your troubles, think about what wonderful things can come from that federal funding."

"I understand."

"Thank you for your time, Lt. Casey. I assure you that this will be for the best."

Yes……things were going very nicely now, and Craig Stevens was sure that the results that they'd been looking for would be forthcoming as long as Frank Donovan stayed true to form. 

As he returned to the paperwork in front of him, Craig began to outline the speech he would give to his superiors detailing how his involvement had helped spur on the investigation which led to the arrest of the bombing suspect. Of course, if certain details were left out, who would be the wiser? Smiling to himself, he could already picture the citation hanging on his wall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Craig Stevens was imagining the glory that he thought would surely come his way, somewhere back in Chicago, a man slid behind the wheel of a beat up old Plymouth that he'd purchased with cash only 24 hours ago. Shoving the last bite of a bagel in his mouth, he picked up the newspaper he had just purchased from a corner gas station. 

What he saw on the front page, nearly sent him over the edge. Not from pain, anguish, anger or jealousy, but from a nearly giddy sense of destiny. A sickening smile spread across his face as he read the article before him. _Things couldn't be going better_, he thought to himself. He'd wanted to get their attention, and this was undeniable proof that all was going as planned. The icing on the cake was reading about the FBI's involvement. An unexpected turn, but one he could certainly appreciate and embrace. 

With one final look at the picture gracing the article, the man said, "Well, Mr. Donovan…..seems you and I shall meet some day…..some day very soon. I'll enjoy very much making you pay…….pay along with the rest of them." The wicked smile returning to his lips, he added, "And wait until you see what I have in store for you. All of that fancy academy training won't have prepared you for this."

Placing the newspaper on the passenger seat beside him, he put the car in drive and headed toward today's mission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After speaking with Craig Stevens, Frank had once again joined his other agents on the main floor. All of them stayed out of his way as he slowly stalked the area, waiting restlessly for Jake and Alex to return with Phil Casey. The tension in the air was almost stifling. 

Laura watched Frank, and could practically see the anger emanating from every pore of his body. Knowing that Casey would be there any minute, she hesitantly decided to approach Frank, hoping she could get him alone for a few minutes in order to talk to him. If he faced Casey now in this state, she seriously feared for the man's life, not that she, herself, didn't want to beat the crap out of him. Steeling her courage, she rose from her chair and purposefully stood in Frank's way as he prowled the floor.

He looked up at her strangely when he noticed her, the look in his eyes said 'can't you see you're in my way'. "Frank, we need to talk."

He almost rolled his eyes, before he ground out, "Not now, Laura."

"Yes….now," she countered as she grabbed his arm and almost forcibly pulled him into a nearby room, closing the door behind them.

Frank turned to glare at her, not happy that she'd disturbed him from his angry trance. He folded his arms across his chest and continued to stare her down.

Sighing, she carefully chose her first words. "Frank…..you have to calm down."

"Calm down? Are you serious? That man has jeopardized this case, endangered people that I care for the most in this world, and you're seriously telling me to calm down?" 

"Yes……that's exactly what I'm telling you." Before he had a chance to protest once more, she quickly continued. "Screaming, yelling, threatening…..none of those things are going to improve the situation. What we need to do now is figure out a way to end this all, and quickly. We still need the PD's assistance. The bottom line is that we still need Casey's participation."

Frank ran his hand through his hair and paced away from her. Frustrated, upset and angered beyond belief, he knew deep down inside that she was right. He wanted nothing more than to break the man in two, but he knew that that would accomplish nothing more than helping to alleviate his current stress level.

"Go ahead and say it," she commanded.

He looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. "Say what?"

"You hate it when I'm right," she informed him as seriously as she could, trying desperately to keep a smile from her face.

He turned to look at her, and was struck by how easily she could diffuse a situation…..diffuse him. _ She would have made a good negotiator. _Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he breathed in deeply, held that breath and then slowly exhaled, releasing some of his pent up anger. After doing so he opened his eyes once more, and stared at the woman before him. Still, he was not quite willing to let it all go.

"All right….I won't snap his neck like a twig, but that's all I'm promising."

"Frank….."

"No Laura……I'm sorry…..I can't forgive what he's done so easily. This isn't some green recruit making a rookie error. This man _knowingly_ hurt this investigation, and in the process put innocent people in harm's way."

She looked up into his eyes and he could tell instantly that she was just as worried as he was. "What arrangements did you make," she finally asked, suddenly dropping the subject of Casey's betrayal.

"They're going to a safe house. I called a couple of other agents and they're picking them up as we speak. In fact they'll probably be here within the hour." 

"You're bringing them here? Why?" she asked suddenly on edge.

"For purely personal reasons. I need to see them before they go."

Now it was Laura's turn to pace. With her arm's folded in front of her, she began lightly chewing the side of her finger, something she only did when she was very upset. Seeing that, Frank walked toward her and gently placed his hands on her upper arms.

"Look at me," he softly commanded. She sighed shakily before complying, and when she finally did turn her face up to his, he saw the tears shimmering in her eyes. "It's going to be OK, baby…….I swear it is," he nearly whispered to her as he tenderly took her into his arms.

"I know……I know……I just…….I can't be here when they arrive," she informed him as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. 

Holding on to her as tightly as he could, he replied, "I think that might be for the best. Your presence here would only be upsetting." She nodded in understanding, unable to find her voice as she tried desperately not to break down into uncontrollable tears.

The two stayed that way for a few more minutes, but Laura suddenly disengaged herself from his embrace and hastily wiped any remaining tears from her face. 

"If it's all right with you, I'll take my laptop and work in your office for awhile. I can tell the others that I have some personal phone calls to make," she informed him.

Shaking his head, he looked at her sadly, knowing how much this was tearing her apart.

"You have to promise me something though," she told him.

"What's that?"

"Please promise me that you're going to keep your temper when Casey gets here."

Sighing once more, he relented. "I promise, but I don't trust the man. Period. I don't know what kind of sick, twisted game he's playing, but all I'm very sure of is that I don't trust him."

Laura nodded, locked eyes with Frank for a few seconds, and said, "I love you….remember that." Before he had a chance to respond, her hand was on the doorknob and she was gone.

He sighed and turned away from the door. He wasn't quite ready to face the rest of the team and he knew that he needed to be prepared for Casey's arrival. He'd promised to keep his temper and he was going to try his darnedest to keep that promise, but he needed to send a clear unforgettable message. _You look the wrong way, you breathe the wrong way, and I'll end your life without a moment's hesitation. You've fucked with the wrong man and I want you to remember that for the rest of your miserable life. _

There was one more phone call he needed to make. He needed to contact the agents who were going to be taking his family to safety. Further plans needed to be made. Taking out his cell phone, he placed his call. 

Twenty minutes later, the door to the warehouse opened and Alex and Jake escorted in a very shaken Phil Casey. All movement stopped, no voices could be heard and all eyes turned to stare at the man now on center stage. 

Frank glared at the man and if looks could have killed, Casey would have been dust the second his feet hit the premises. Casey looked around the room, but his eyes never _quite_ left Frank's. 

"Look Frank….."

"Don't," was Frank's only reply, the meaning being clear. _You start double talking and I'll bury you. _Casey swallowed hard and began to actually fear for his life. Up until the point he actually saw Frank Donovan's face, he'd been reasonably sure that he could somehow schmooze his way out of this sticky situation, but now……now he could only hope that his life would be spared. 

Frank continued to eyeball the man before him, not quite sure where to begin. Still deciding on the best course of action, Frank simply commanded, "Explain yourself."

Unable to face Frank's gaze any longer, Casey glanced down at the floor in front of him before he started speaking. "I really have no excuse for my actions. I've been under a lot of pressure from City Hall to try to reassure the public that steps were being taken to ensure their safety. Without giving away any specifics, I thought it might help to at least know that the FBI was involved. When the press arrived at that motel and snapped a picture of you, I figured what harm would it do to at least give them a small piece of information." Casey ceased his rambling and glanced up once more at Frank and noted that his stance, his look hadn't changed one iota. _Is he buying this?_

"I highly doubt that you're that ignorant," Frank began, "but just in case you are, let me fill you in on a few facts. Number 1.….you may have severely hampered this investigation by giving away our presence here. Number 2.…..by giving out my identity and position within the government, you have now given the bomber someone to hold personally responsible for the manhunt that is now being conducted in order to bring about his capture, thus putting me in personal danger. Number 3.….By putting me in danger, you've also endangered the lives of the people closest to me. And Number 4.…..I am the leader of an undercover team, a team who's presence in this town is supposed to be top secret. By allowing the press to plaster my picture across the front page of the newspaper, I can no longer continue in this position." Pacing forward slowly and stealthily, he came face-to-face with almost ashen faced Phil Casey.

Frank continued now, barely above a whisper, "Know this…..if anything should happen to my family…..there is nowhere you can hide that I won't find you. I will track you down and make sure that your life is worth nothing, but don't worry…..I won't kill you, but by the time I'm done with you, you'll wish I had."

Casey opened his mouth and some noise akin to a squeal escaped. He saw the look in Frank's eyes and knew that he wasn't bluffing. If anything happened, his life wouldn't be worth spit. Just as he was ready to spill his guts and tell him who was really behind the release of information to the press, there was a knock at the main doorway. 

Everyone still stood riveted to the spot, and only Frank was able to finally tear himself away from the scene, so he went to admit their guests.

As he headed to the door, the five agents present all gave each other quick looks that said 'oh dear God….please don't let me ever piss _him_ off'. However, when Frank returned to the room, their looks changed drastically to 'am I seeing this correctly?'. Along with Frank were two women, a boy of about 7, and a small girl who couldn't have been more than three, clinging desperately to their boss with her arms tightly wrapped around his neck.

Shock would have been an understatement at this point. No one spoke instead they all just exchanged glances. Finally breaking the silence, Frank decided to introduce their new arrivals.

"Everyone….I'd like you to meet my mother, Maria……..my son, Christopher," turning slightly so that the group could see the frightened little girl in his arms he continued, "…….this is my daughter Alicia, and this…" moving closer to the blond standing next to his mother, "….this is Lisa………my wife." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__ __

  



	8. Let the games begin

****

Revelations

Chapter Eight

Shock…..it was the only word for it.

****

The four agents on Donovan's regular team stood in stunned silence, an awkward, uncomfortable silence that was nearly deafening. Phil Casey, however, looked more than a little green around the gills. It was one thing to leak a few details about a classified operation, and another entirely to put a man's family in harm's way. As he looked at the two small children now in the room, he was suddenly having trouble breathing and felt very close to becoming physically ill.

The stillness of the moment, however, was broken by a tiny voice……"Daddy?"

Frank looked down at his young son, "Yeah, honey."

Releasing his grandmother's hand, Christopher made his way over to his father's side, and with adoring eyes asked, "Who are all these people?"

Frank couldn't help but smile at the boy. In spite of all the turmoil in his young life, Christopher Donovan looked at all these changes with a sense of adventure. Frank wished that his daughter had half of Christopher's outgoing personality. Alicia was his quiet one, the one who could curl up on his lap for hours on end and be blissfully happy while her older brother was slaying imaginary dragons and conquering kingdoms with his magic sword. 

Christopher returned his father's smile and his eyes twinkled. _My God….he's so much like his mother._ Of course, he knew his wife would dispute that fact, saying that their son had gotten his fearlessness and love of discovery from his father. He liked to believe that this small boy was a unique blend of both of their personalities.

Frank walked over to one of the conference room chairs and sat down, not because he was tired of standing, but because his daughter, now almost three, was getting a little heavy to hold for very long. She still clung to him, her face buried in the crook of his neck, as if in hiding she could make an awkward situation disappear. Alicia was a child of routine. She wanted the same breakfast every morning, she was to be read a story before bedtime every night, her favorite stuffed animal (a lovably ragged bunny named Whiskers) had to be firmly tucked under her arm before she would even consider sleeping or napping, and every morning she needed to be greeted the exact same way…. 'Good morning Princess!'. Any variation from her normal routine upset her greatly, but amazingly she was also one of the most compassionate beings Frank had ever encountered. She immediately sensed when people were angry, upset, hurt or lonely and she would give that person as much love and sympathy that her small body could muster.

Now seated he tried to shift Alicia's body so that she was sitting on his lap instead of wrapping herself around his neck as she been doing for the past several minutes. She wasn't happy about the situation, but she finally complied with her father's gentle nudging. Once he was more comfortable, Frank finally got around to answering his son's question.

"These people are members of my team," he answered simply.

Christopher looked at the adults with a curious expression on his face and finally said, "They don't look like they're on a team."

Frank chuckled to himself, knowing exactly how his son's mind worked. He didn't see uniforms so how could this group of individuals be on a team? "Not that kind of team. These are people that work for me, and this man," Frank added, pointing to Casey, "is a police officer." Christopher turned to glance at the man his father had pointed out to him, and the look in his eyes was one of respect. He had a fair idea of what his father did for a living and he equated this man with his father.

Casey saw the look the little boy was giving him and wanted to crawl into a hole and die. The look of reverence in Christopher's eyes made him feel lower than low. Not being able to hold the child's stare any longer, he quickly looked away, suddenly finding something of major interest to look at on the floor.

Alicia moved on his lap and timidly began to look around at the other people in the room. After a few seconds of inspection, she turned back to her father and stretched so that she could whisper something in his ear. Leaning down he obliged her. A small smile drew up the corners of his mouth.

"She wants to know your names," he explained to those present. "This is Monica," he began, "this is Cody……that's Jake, Phil and Dave….and this is Alex." After introducing his team, she whispered something else to him. Once again smiling, he turned to Alex and said, "She says you have very pretty eyes, but she doesn't understand why you have a boy's name."

Alex couldn't help but smile at the adorable child sitting on her boss' lap. "Well thank you Alicia," she responded, "but Alex is only a nickname."

Alicia was now a little more responsive and spoke directly to Alex this time, "What's a…a…nicked name?"

Alex laughed this time and was now fairly convinced that Alicia Donovan was some sort of angel sent from heaven. "Nickname, sweetheart, not nicked name. It means that someone shortened my real name and started calling me Alex." Seeing the little girl frown at that, she was pretty sure that she already knew the next question. "My real name is Alexis, but my older brother started calling me Alex."

Alicia still looked confused. "Why would he do that?" she inquired now, being a little bolder.

"Because sometimes that what older brothers do, and sometimes they do it just to make us mad."

Alicia understood that. Her eyes lit up, and she said, "Chrissopher (her version of her brother's name) does that," she stated looking at her brother, "sometimes….sometimes he takes my cookies when Mommy's not looking……it makes me mad." Everyone present laughed at the little girl's simple logic. One thing had nothing to do with the other, but she did understand what it was like to be mad at a brother and that was enough of a connection for her.

As much as he would have liked to have spent the entire afternoon with his children, Frank knew that they needed to be on their way. He needed to know they were going to be safe, and only then could he truly get back down to business. 

He gathered Alicia back into his arms and rose from his seat. Approaching his mother, he handed his little girl over to her care. He saw the look in his mother's eyes, one of concern and sadness, and he wished he had more time so that he could make her understand fully everything that was going on. But time was not on their side, and he needed her to be safe along with the rest of his family. He'd lost his father at a young age and had desperately held onto his mother as a result of that loss. So many words were on the tip of his tongue, but all he managed to tell her was, "Take care of them?"

"I will, honey….I will. Don't worry about us. We'll be fine," then she graced him with one of her warmest smiles. Leaning down, he kissed her on the cheek and then turned to Lisa.

"I need to talk to you….alone." She nodded and followed him into an adjacent room, closing the door behind them. 

Just as Frank and Lisa entered the other room, Casey's pager went off. Glancing at the text read out, he asked to use one of their phones. Cody motioned for the man to use one on the other side of the room. 

Sensing that the agents had private things to discuss, Maria asked, "I was wondering if someone could help me out with the children? We can get them strapped in and ready to go for when Frank and Lisa are finished talking."

"I'll help you, Mrs. Donovan," Dave volunteered. 

"Thank you very much. And it's been a pleasure to meet all of you," she said to the remaining team members. "Frank speaks so highly of all of you. It's been nice to put faces with names." The four smiled in return, murmuring responses such as 'nice to meet you too'. And with that, Dave escorted Frank's mother and his two children outside.

Now that the four were alone, they huddled close to together and began to speak quietly.

"Can you believe this?" Jake began, with a slight edge to his voice. "He's married?"

"And not only that," Cody added, "but he has two of the cutest kids I've ever seen." 

"Yeah…I know," Alex responded, feeling perplexed by the whole situation. "Maybe…" she began looking at the room where there boss was at the moment, "maybe…it's his ex-wife."

"He didn't say ex," Monica pointed out.

"I know, but he certainly wasn't very….I don't know….affectionate toward her. I mean did you see the way he looked at those kids? And his mother? He adores them and the feeling's mutual, you can tell. But he almost totally ignored Lisa. It was almost like she wasn't really here," Alex pointed out.

"You gotta point," Jake stated. Puzzling over the situation some more, he added, "Maybe they're in the middle of a divorce and that's why he didn't say ex." the other three nodded, but all knew that the answers they were looking for wouldn't be forthcoming until they could get the chance to question the man himself.

'Hmmm….." Cody murmured lost in thought.

"What?" Jake prodded.

"Just wondering……what if the circumstances are exactly the way they seem to be?" He saw the puzzled looks on their faces. "What I mean is, here we are trying to come up with some logical scenario for what we've found out so far. What if there is no logic. Maybe he's just a married man having an affair." 

The four all looked at each other, knowing that that was a possibility, but it bothered them to think about it. They had no right to be bothered. After all, the man's personal life was his own business and no one else's. But the idea that he'd somehow be capable of cheating when he had a wife and two adorable children at home upset them. In fact it upset them greatly. 

Alex glanced up at Franks' office and saw Laura at the window looking down at them, but when she caught Alex' stare she moved away. _How long has she been at that window? Did she see everything? Frank with his children? His family? _

Jake caught her line of sight and he said, "What is it?"

"That might explain it."

"Explain what?"

Looking back at the other three, she replied, "Why Laura shut herself away in Frank's office when she knew that his family was going to be here soon."

But before they were able to discuss the situation further, Frank opened the door and he and Lisa emerged. Looking around, Frank said, "Are they already outside?"

"Yeah. Dave's helping your mom get the kids settled in," Jake answered.

"Good." Turning to Lisa, "I'll walk you out." Without a glance over a shoulder or anything, the two disappeared out the door.

"Well, she's friendly," Cody couldn't help but comment. "No wonder he…."

"Cody! Stop it! We don't know anything. Maybe she's just preoccupied and worried about her family. Ever think of that?" Jake berated. 

"All right……unfair shot. I admit it."

The four heard Casey hang up the phone and pace over to them quickly carrying a pad of paper with lots of writing on it. 

"We've got major developments happening." Stopping to look around, Casey asked, "Where's Frank?"

"He's saying goodbye to his family. What's up?" Monica asked for the group.

"Plenty…..and we have a deadline." But before anyone could ask any further questions, Frank reentered the building. Seeing the look on Casey's face , he knew that there'd been some sort of lead.

"What do you have?" he asked the man directly.

"There's been some disturbing developments. The hotline has received numerous calls this morning from people claiming to have seen packages left in unusual places. No one's been hurt so far, and the bomb squad's responding as quickly as possible, but all together….," he paused looking at the notepad before him, "….so far there have been 8 such discoveries. Our squad can't handle that much work alone, so I've asked neighboring districts to lend a hand. The packages that the squad's been able to get to so far have contained explosive material. Like I've said, no one's been hurt so far."

"All right," Frank began, "we'll investigate each of the locations as quickly as….."

Interrupting him before he could finish, Casey added, "There's more." he once again looked at his notes. "There was also a call from a man claiming to be Henry Sumner." Frank's eyes widened in surprise. "Like I said, he claims to be our suspect, and he asked the officer taking the call if all of his 'surprises' had been found yet? He claims there are ten in all, and we're only aware of 8 so far. But the kicker is, he wants to talk to you Frank."

"Is that so?" Frank asked, slightly surprised at the prospect. "Did he say when? And does he want to do this in person or on the phone?"

"The cop taking the call said that he'd call back at 2:00PM today and he wants you to be there."

"Fine. But for the rest of you, we'll have to split up and try to investigate as many of these locations as possible." Pausing briefly, he glanced back up at his office. 

"Cody, run up and ask Laura to join us." Nodding, Cody went to retrieve their other profiler.

A few seconds later the two joined the group, "What's going on?" Laura inquired.

Frank quickly filled her in on the situation. "As I said, we'll have to split up to cover more ground. I'll need one person to cover communications between three groups. Dave…..you'll stay here and act as switchboard. Jake…Cody…you'll be on one team. Alex…Laura….you're on another, and Monica…you're with me." Glancing down at his watch, he saw that it was already almost 12:30. 

"Dave….contact the police headquarters and get the exact locations of these so-called surprises and then communicate their location to the others. Monica and I will go straight down to headquarters and await the suspect's call." Looking around at the group. "Any questions?" All shook their heads.

"Good. Just a few precautions though……leave your cell phones here. We're only going to be using ear mics. After talking to the bomb squad earlier, they informed me that the mics we have use the wrong frequency to set off charges. Second, I want constant communication between yourselves and Dave, and he'll, in turn, keep all of you informed of any other leads or updates. All clear?" Looking at the faces of his team, he added, "And be careful. No heroics. Just check out the information we've been given and wait until the squad gives you the go ahead, and not a second before. All right….let's head out." 

The group then dispersed heading toward their respective vehicles. Once on the road, Dave passed along information to each team, guiding them to their respective destinations. 

Frank and Monica arrived at police headquarters and talked briefly with the officer who took the call from their suspect. He informed them that the call only lasted a minute or two, and he was unable to give them any more pertinent information other than the fact that the man seemed to be calling from a cell phone. After asking a few more questions, the two agents were led to an empty office and were told that the operators would forward the man's call to that office's phone when he called in. Frank took the few moments of down time to check in with his other agents.

"Dave?"

"Here boss," came the prompt reply.

"Patch me through to Jake and Cody."

"You got it……..go ahead."

"Jake? Cody? What's your status?"

Jake answered for the two. "We just waiting on the go ahead from the bomb squad. We're near a convenience store on the north end of town. The package that was left is located near the rear entrance of the building. The team here is just finishing their final sweep of the area."

"Did the package contain explosives?"

"Yeah….but from what they said it wouldn't have caused too much damage."

"All right. Check out the area, interview the witnesses and then get on to the next site."

"Got it."

"Dave?"

"Yo!" Frank smiled to himself. _I think he's been around Cody too long already._

"Give me Alex and Laura."

"Go ahead."

"Alex? What have you got?

"We're at a dry cleaners on the east side. We've just finished going over the area and from what the people here said, the package was here when they got in at about 5 this morning."

"Laura….can you tell anything from the area?"

"Not really. It's not exactly like seeing where the man worked or anything, but Frank….."

"Yeah?"

"One thing bothers me though……all of the bombs found so far have been small, almost insignificant. It's like he's toying with us. And now he wants to talk to you. Why now? And why send us on wild goose chases? He's either hiding something of more importance, trying to distract us from what's really happening or that newspaper article inflated his ego so much that he now thinks he's invincible and unstoppable and he's testing the waters."

Frank thought about it for the moment before asking, "Which do you think it is?"

He heard her sigh before answering, "I think he's trying to distract us. By sending us in 10 different directions, we're not able to focus on what he's really up to."

"I agree. Maybe we'll be able to tell more after I talk with him. That is if he calls."

"He'll call. I have no doubt of that. Just be careful."

Smiling, he responded, "I'm not the one out in the field playing with bombs, young lady."

"No……you're the one dealing with their designer. That's a whole different ball game."

"Right. I'll check in after I've spoken with him."

"OK….bye."

"Dave….keep me updated if either of the teams checks in with information."

"No problem."

Knowing that she'd heard both exchanges, he asked Monica, "So what's your opinion?"

Without a moment's hesitation she said, "I agree with Laura. He's up to something else, something we're not aware of yet. But this phone call bothers me more than anything."

"Why's that?"

She began to pace through the room, searching for the right words to convey her suspicions. "Why does he want to speak to someone? Yes, serial criminals tend to want some sort of recognition. They want to be able to voice their reasons. What they're doing usually doesn't seem criminal in nature to them. They see themselves as fulfilling some sort of destiny. So what's this guy's story? Is he angry at someone? Something? Was he abused as a child and he's finally channeling all that repressed anger?" She stopped pacing so that she could look at Frank directly, "Why does he want to speak to you directly? And why today when he's apparently been a very busy boy?"

Frank considered her words carefully. "I don't know Monica, but I guess we'll find out soon enough." Nodding her head, she agreed. She knew that neither one of them had the answers. They would just have to wait until Henry Sumner called and filled in all the blanks. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Frank saw that they had nearly fifteen minutes before Sumner was scheduled to call. 

The two sat their in silence both lost in their own thoughts. Before long, however, Monica finally spoke up.

"Your kids are adorable," she stated with a smile on her face.

The comment took Frank by surprise. He wasn't used to discussing personal matters with people he worked with, but he saw the look on her face and could tell that she was treading into new territory as well. "Thanks, they can be a handful sometimes though."

"How old are they?"

"Christopher will be seven this November and Alicia will be three next month." Thinking about his children always brought a smile to his face. 

Monica saw the look and it warmed her heart a bit. She thought about everything that had been revealed to them over the past few days. Just days before, none of the team could have told you what Frank Donovan did with his free time. They all assumed he did _something_ besides work, but no one had ever stopped to ask him what that something could be. And now……well it certainly did seem that Frank had a personal life and then some. From the looks of it he had a wife, two kids, and a lover on the side. That last part still bothered Monica. It just didn't gel with what she knew about the man. He was hard working, dedicated, honest, brave…..all of those things and yet he was also an adulterer?? Mentally shaking her head, she didn't think. So what could the real story be?? 

Mulling over the possibilities, she turned to look at the man sitting across from her. It suddenly occurred to her…..all the pieces fit, but how could she find out for sure?? _Ah hell……only one way I know of._

"So how long have you and Laura been married?"

Yes….shock…it was the only word to describe the look on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	9. Into the mind of a madman

****

Revelations

Chapter Nine

A bit wide-eyed, Frank continued to stare at his profiler. _How did she know? What made her suspect? _Of course, of anybody on his team, he should have known that she would put the pieces together. 

"What makes you think….."

She cut him off before he could continue. "Come on Donovan. We've all seen the way you look at her…..the way you relate differently to her…..the way she talks to you and gets away with it." She paused when she saw that he looked slightly uneasy with the course of the conversation. "So you're going to tell me I'm wrong?"

"No….you're not wrong. I just don't think this is the time to discuss it, that's all." She regarded him for a few seconds more and decided to drop it. 

"So what do you think this guy's going to say?" she asked changing the subject.

"I don't know," he replied, getting up from his seat. "Actually, we're not sure this guy's the real deal."

"True…..but I have a feeling he is."

"I do too." Sighing he tried to focus on the upcoming phone call. This could be a major break in their case or it could spell disaster, and quite a bit of the pressure of determining how it went rested on his shoulders. He resumed his pacing and the two didn't say anything else.

A few minutes before 2:00 the phone rang in the office. Knowing that they were recording and trying to trace the call, he took his time answering. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he lifted the receiver.

"This is Frank Donovan. Who am I speaking with?"

"Ahhh……Mr. Donovan or shall I call you Special Agent Donovan?"

"How about Frank. And you haven't answered my question."

The man on the other end of the line laughed at that. "No….I suppose I didn't. The name's Henry Sumner, but then you already knew that didn't you?"

"How can we be sure that you're the man we're looking for and not some crackpot looking for a laugh?"

"Good point, Frank! I suppose you can't, but I think you at least suspect that I am who I say I am."

"Going on the assumption that you are the real Henry Sumner, what is your purpose for calling?"

"All business, aren't you, Frank? I like that. It probably makes you a good commander and no doubt that's why you were put in charge of this case."

"In case you've forgotten what I asked you, why are you calling? What is it you want?"

"Oh Frank…..why I'm calling and what I want are two entirely different things."

"And how is that?"

"What I want is for the people responsible to pay for what they've done."

"What people? And what are they responsible for?" Frank asked, trying to get to the root of the man's problem. "If you tell me who you're talking about, then maybe I can help you."

Frank heard laughter on the other end of the line. "Frank…Frank…Frank….._you're_ part of the problem, at least indirectly, but we'll get to all of that later."

Frank glanced over at Monica and noticed that she'd been timing the call. She indicated with her hands that they'd only need 30 more seconds to complete the trace. Frank nodded.

"So if you don't want to tell me about the problem, then how can I help you?"

"That's the easy part. I want you to come to pick me up."

Frank froze. Had he just heard the man correctly? "Are you asking me to meet you somewhere in person?"

"Sure….we can meet and then you can arrest me."

"Are you surrendering yourself?"

"Absolutely. I'm sure by now, your people have been able to trace my call, but in case they haven't, I'm back at that same motel where your picture was taken the other day. Room 126. I'll be waiting patiently for you to arrive."

"Why are you doing this?" Frank asked perplexed, since it wasn't every day that a suspect called to hand himself over.

"My work is almost done, Frank. I've made my point, or at least I shall soon."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Frank asked, suddenly feeling uneasy about the conversation.

"I think this is a discussion best left for in person. Come and get me Frank. Bring all of the personnel you think you'll need, but I do expect you to be there. You won't disappoint me now, will you? Believe me….that might be a bad idea."

Before Frank could ask the man what he'd meant by that last statement, the line went dead. Pulling the phone away from his ear, he gently put the handset back in it's cradle. Something about those last words sent shivers down his spine. Maybe it was just the unusual request that was making him feel edgy. Whatever it was, he didn't like it. 

He turned to Monica, who'd been listening in, "So what do you think?"

"I think it may very well be a trap. He was very specific in making sure that you'd be there." 

"That occurred to me too. It bothered me when he said that his work was almost done or at least it would be soon. Does that mean that he has something else hidden somewhere waiting to go off, or does it mean, like you said, that we'd be heading into a trap?"

"I don't know. But either way, I don't like it."

"I have to agree with you there."

"David?" Frank spoke, alerting his awaiting tech-op.

"Yeah boss."

"Notify the other two teams that we're heading to the Woodcrest Motel on Sawmill Rd. Our suspect has indicated that he's willing to turn himself in and that this is where he'll be."

"Right. Do you want them to meet you there or continue where they are?"

"Find out their status and then get back to me."

"You got it."

Turning to Monica, he said, "Are you ready to head out?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, but are you sure that this is a good idea?" she asked in return, indicating that they may be making a huge mistake by walking right into whatever the man had planned.

"I think in this instance our hands are tied. He more than hinted that if I didn't make an appearance that something else might happen. I want to avoid that if possible."

Nodding her head in acceptance, she followed her boss out of the office. They made a brief stop in the Chief of Police's office to request what they needed as far as back-up. Then with 10 cruisers and a SWAT team in tow, they made their way to the motel on the outskirts of town.

Along the way, Frank got updates from David and the other teams. 

"Jake?" Frank asked through his earpiece microphone.

"Yeah. We've just finished with the convenience store and we're about to head out to some apartment complex near here. What's up? How did the phone call go?" Jake asked, anxious to hear what their suspect had to say.

"He's turning himself in."

"He what??" Jake asked incredulously. "He actually said that?"

"He did. Monica and I are on our way now to pick him up."

"Do you want us to continue on or meet you there?"

Frank thought about it for a few more seconds. If this man was indeed turning himself in, then there may no longer be any point in investigating these packages left behind. "Meet us there. The Woodcrest Motel on Sawmill. Just in case he doesn't surrender as easily as he indicated he would."

"You got it. We're leaving right now. We should be there in about 15 to 20 minutes."

"Monica and I will probably already be there. In case we're not, don't make a move. Sumner said that he wanted to make sure I was the one to bring him in. If he sees someone else first, he may not be as cooperative."

"Understood. We'll see you in a few."

"Alex? Laura? What's your status?"

"We've just arrived at a manufacturing plant. The bomb squad finished up a few minutes before we arrived. We've just started our sweep of the area. What's up? How did it go?" she inquired, also interested in knowing the outcome of Frank's phone call.

"We're on our way to pick up Sumner. He's turning himself in," he replied.

"Really? That's a little unexpected, isn't it?"

"I'll agree with you. We'll see how co-operative he is when we arrive there. In the mean time, how long will it take you to complete your sweep?"

"Ummm……maybe 45 minutes or so…..maybe a little longer. This place is rather large. Bigger than the other locations we've investigated."

Frank considered pulling them out and having them join the others, but thought better of it. "All right. Continue your investigation and then check back in. If we're having a difficult time with Sumner, I'll have you join us."

"You got it."

Having checked in with the other teams, Frank and Monica continued on in relative silence, both of their minds wandering to other subjects. Monica glanced at her boss through the corner of her eyes. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but only one that really bothered her.

"Why did you introduce this Lisa as your wife?"

Frank's eyes darted quickly in her direction and then returned just as swiftly to the road in front of him. "Monica…."

"Come on, Donovan. It's going to take us at least another ten minutes to get to the motel. We might as well put the time to some use. Why the ruse? What point was there in making us believe you were married to that girl? And who is she really, by the way?"

Sighing heavily and looking out the side window, he knew he was trapped and might as well answer her questions. "Which do you want me to answer first?" he asked almost snidely.

"You pick…..just answer one," she replied folding her arms in front of her, getting a little irritated at his tone.

"All right…..the _ruse _as you called it, wasn't for your benefit. I don't trust Casey. I'm not sure what's going on with him, and I wanted to protect my family as much as possible. The kids and my mother are now securely tucked away in a safe house, but Laura's still out in the field. Not knowing what the man was going to pull next, I wanted him to think that my wife was out of reach as well."

"Ahhhh….I guess that makes sense. So who is Lisa anyway?"

"She's another agent. When I called in to have my family picked up, I asked to have a woman assigned to the case. Someone who could pose as my wife, at least while she was in Casey's presence."

Nodding her head in understanding, Monica asked another question, "So why didn't you just tell us who Laura really is?" Seeing Frank's reaction to her question, which was something close to rolling his eyes, she added, "Jeez Donovan, you've spilled your guts so far, might as well go for broke."

Shaking his head and smiling slightly, he responded, "You know why. You're the profiler….why would I keep something like that a secret?"

Smiling in return, she answered, "Well…..if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that you were concerned how the rest of us would react to her if we knew the two of you were married. Would we treat her any differently? Would we analyze every single thing the two of you said to each other? So…..am I close?"

In lieu of a verbal answer, he just smiled at her, as if to say 'so why did you ask me the question when you already knew the answer'.

"You never answered my original question," she stated.

He looked at her for a second with a confused look on his face. "What question?"

"How long have the two of you been married?"

"It's been almost ten years."

"Wow……" she responded a little shocked. Not that he'd been married, but that he'd been living this kind of double life for so long. It gave her something of a new found respect for the man. The work they did wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but to think that for the past ten years he'd been able to reach the levels he had in the Bureau, **and** maintain a happy (or supposedly happy) home life somehow amazed her. _And to think that I have a hard time dating anyone for more than a week or two at a time!_

A short time later, Frank and Monica pulled up to the Woodcrest Motel. Exiting the car, they both regarded the scene with some trepidation. The place was almost completely calm and serene. 

Pausing before going any further, Frank decided he needed some more information first.

"David?"

"Here…..go ahead."

"Have you finished cross referencing today's targets yet?" Earlier in the day, Frank had asked David to try to find a connection between the bombing sites found around town.

"Not yet…..and from what I've found so far, there is no connection between any of the businesses or residences."

Sighing, Frank looked around, knowing deep down inside that there had to be some reason that Sumner had picked those specific locations. The man was on a mission. He'd said that his work was almost completed and that the people responsible would pay for what they'd done. 

"Keep digging. The man used to work for Chicago Steel. See if there's any connection between the employees, board of directors, owners, investors and these sites."

"I'm on it. I'll get back to you on that as soon as I can."

"Good. In the mean time, where are Jake and Cody?"

"They just checked in. They should be to you in less than five minutes."

"All right. Patch them through. I want them to be able to listen in to what goes on with Sumner."

"Patching them through now."

"Monica……" he motioned for her to join him at the back of the vehicle. There, he opened up the trunk and the two donned their Kevlar vests. Now looking around, he saw that the police had positioned themselves around the area and the SWAT team was ready and had several snipers in position.

Approaching the head of the SWAT unit, he instructed the man to wait for his go ahead before doing anything, since they still were not 100% sure that the suspect hadn't wired himself or the building to blow.

That done, he returned to Monica. "Stay here," he commanded her. "You'll be able to listen in, and I want you to listen for anything that I may not be picking up on. If you're out here, away from the actual scene, then you can speak freely about anything that comes to mind."

"Got it. And Donovan……good luck." Nodding in her direction, he began his approach flanked by 10 or so police officers with guns drawn. Much to their surprise, when they were still some ten paces away, the door to the motel room slowly opened. 

Stopping immediately, and pointing his own weapon at the open doorway, Frank saw Henry Sumner exiting the room with his hands held up in a surrendering gesture. From what he could see, the suspect didn't seem to be carrying anything, either in his hands or on his person.

"Hello, Frank. I'm glad you could make it," Sumner said calmly. 

"I told you I'd be here, didn't I?" Frank stated, still pointing his gun at the suspect.

"So you did. And now that you're here, perhaps we can get down to business."

"Of course. But first things first. Put your hands behind your head and stay exactly where you are."

"Certainly. I'm sorry. I should have assumed that you'd want to cuff me first." He then did as Frank had instructed him, after which Frank approached him slowly, circling around behind the man. As he did so, several of the members of the SWAT team cautiously entered the motel room in order to insure that Sumner was indeed alone.

Once behind Sumner, Frank took out his handcuffs and carefully placed the man's hands in them one by one. That done, he walked back around him so that he was facing him once more. He took a few moments to really look at Sumner. He saw in his eyes a steely determination and a hint of……..something else. Something he couldn't quite name yet. Anger? Resentment? Neither really, but he knew it wasn't far off.

"Now….do you have a statement to make?" Frank asked.

"Frank…..you make it sound like I'm preparing for a speech or something." Getting no reaction from Frank except a continuing hard edged glare, the man sighed and relented. "Very well…..if you insist. By all means, let's get to the heart of the matter." Pausing briefly, as if trying to find the right words, the man finally continued. 

"Do you feel secure in your job, Frank?" Sumner asked suddenly. Frank frowned at the question.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Frank responded still frowning.

Sumner chuckled slightly, "I suppose that's not a fair question to ask an FBI agent. After all, your job is always somewhat dangerous I would suspect. No….what I should have asked was, what do you expect from an employer? Fair pay? To be treated with respect? That's not too much to ask. Am I right?"

"I suppose not, but what's that got to do……"

Sumner interrupted before Frank could continue. "I'm getting there, Frank. But in answer to my question, of course, it's not too much to ask. In fact it's the basis of good business. You give your life over to a company and in return you expect that fair treatment….you expect that they'll take care of you in return for your loyalty. And that…….that's where everyone is wrong. There is no real job security. What a company promises is something intangible. Something they cannot necessarily deliver. Do you follow me?"

"Go on," Frank stated, still trying to figure out where this was all leading.

"Yes….well…..nothing is safe, Frank. That's my point. I gave a very large portion of my life to Chicago Steel. I worked there for over twenty years. Twenty years, Frank! And in return, I was promised many things. Job security……a healthy pension…….so many things, but then the unexpected happened. A fire started in one of the buildings and spread quickly. By the next morning, the place was unrecognizable, and so was my future."

Sumner again paused before continuing. "The plant had been operating for decades, Frank, and we, the employees, had every reason to believe that once the place was rebuilt, it would again open. Things would be tight until then, but we were loyal employees and of course, we were willing to wait. Weeks stretched into months, and we were continually told that things were happening, but that it was just taking longer than expected. After six or more months went by, I started to do a little digging. Do you know what I found out Frank?"

Frank knew that the man didn't really expect an answer so he just continued to stare at him with a concerned look on his face, but in reality, the tension he felt was spiraling upward. He now had a fair idea what this man's real mission was, but somehow he hoped he was wrong.

"There was no progress, Frank. None at all. After checking with some contacts I had at City Hall, I found out that there were no plans to rebuild the plant. But the real kicker was, not only were they not intending to rebuild, but the US government was paying the owners NOT to rebuild! Don't you just love that?!" 

Sumner looked at Frank with wildness in his eyes, and that's when Frank was finally able to name that mystery look that he'd witnessed earlier. The man was insane. Pure and simple. This anger that he'd been carrying around for so long had finally warped his sense of good and bad, his sense of reality. The man truly believed that what he was doing was somehow justified. The only question on Frank's mind at the moment was, what was his final trap? What was the last card in his hand?

"I'm fairly sure that the government wasn't paying the company not to rebuild," Frank stated calmly.

"Maybe that wasn't their original intention, but that was the outcome. Yes, yes, yes….of course the money was some sort of aid, but the owners took that money and made up some sort of sob story about how it just wasn't enough, blah….blah….blah. Poor them, millions of dollars in their pockets and that was all," he told Frank, feigning sympathy. "And where did that get us? I can tell you……for the first time in my life, I was in the unemployment line. I was over 40 and had had only one job in my life. I'd been making pretty good money and now they were asking me to take jobs that could hardly support a teenager. I tried to…….." Sumner stopped when he heard a distant rumbling sound.

Frank heard the sound too. Looking at the others present, he could tell that no one knew what it was that they had just heard. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Frank had a sinking feeling that he really did know the source of the noise.

Speaking into the microphone attached to his ear piece, Frank called to his waiting tech-op. "David. We just heard some sort of noise. Check with the police and see what you can find out. It sounded like a deep rumbling sound."

"I heard it too," came the reply. "Hold on……."

While he was waiting for the report to come back, he looked at Sumner and saw the man smiling proudly. "What have you done?" he asked in low tones, almost afraid of the answer.

"Well, what I set out to do, of course. No one is safe, Frank. I told you that. Everything may seem to be, but we both know that looks can be deceiving."

As Frank opened his mouth to ask the man further questions, David came back on the line. "I just heard from the police. There was an explosion at that same convenience store where Jake and Cody were just a short time ago."

"How bad was it?" Frank asked quickly not liking the feeling of dread residing deep inside of him. "Was anyone injured?"

"From first reports, the building is in ruins, but no word yet on injuries."

Turning back to the madman in front of him, he again saw the smile on the man's face only this time it was taking on a decidedly wicked twist. Sumner looked at Frank and said, "They never really check over the whole building, do they? It's a shame really…….how easy it is to hide a bomb on a roof, or in a chimney. So many places Frank." And at that second, another explosion could be heard not so far away. Close enough so that this time Frank could actually feel part of the force of it.

Turning away quickly, he began to walk back toward the car. He needed to reach Laura and Alex. He needed to pull them out of the building where they were probably still searching for clues. Just as he was about to call for David, he heard Sumner's calm voice behind him.

"Where is that pretty blond that was with you the other day?" Frank froze when he heard the question. Pivoting slowly on his heel, he once again faced the man speaking. "Such a lovely thing…..I surely do hope that you don't have her poking around where she doesn't belong. It would be such a shame if something happened to her. Wouldn't you agree?" 

Something close to a growl escaped Frank's lips. He wanted nothing more than to go back and pound the man's skull in until it was an unrecognizable mess, but he didn't have that kind of time. Precious seconds were ticking away. Heading back toward the car once more, he called over his mic.

"David! Get me Alex and Laura….now!"

Without even bothering to acknowledge, the tech-op did just that. Something in his boss' tone spelled trouble.

"They're on the line now."

"Alex! Laura! Leave the building now! Wherever you are, whatever you're doing stop now and leave! Do you hear me?!?"

"We're on the bottom floor now…..we're heading out," Alex responded, not asking the question that was on her mind. _What the hell is wrong?_

A few seconds went by and during that time all Frank could hear was the sound of their breathing as they quickly exited the building.

Once outside, Laura finally asked, "Frank….what's wrong? What happened?"

"The buildings are still wired to blow. I don't know how and I don't know when they're set to go off, but you need to get as far away as possible. If you can get to your car then do that and get the hell out of there. If you can't, then run as far away from the structure as possible. We have no way of knowing how strong the blast will be."

"All right. We're out of the building. We went out the nearest door and we're heading through the parking garage now."

__

Parking garage! Suddenly Frank's mind was flooded with snippets of the nightmare that he had had just days before. The uneasiness and anxiety within him suddenly became terminal. 

**__**

"Laura!! Alex!! Get out of there!! Now!! Do you hear……." His last words were cut off by an excruciatingly loud sound over the receiver in his ear. Pulling it away from his head and cringing from the pain, he whirled around and saw Monica, Cody and Jake doing the same thing. They'd heard it too.

__

Oh dear God no!!!!!!!!!!! Frank ran straight to the car. He needed to find her and quickly. _Please God…..please?!_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	10. Frank Donovan 101

****

Revelations

Chapter Ten

Frank spoke not a word to anyone as he ran for his car, but then again, he didn't have to. His face was set in a stern, unflinching mask. He was determined and heaven help the soul who got in his way. His other agents saw what he was doing and made moves to join him. Monica slid into the front seat next to him and Jake and Cody ran for their own vehicle. Once behind the wheel, Frank left half of his tires on the pavement. 

Having no other means to communicate, Monica replaced her earpiece and tried to contact their tech-op still back at the Nest.

"David?? Can you hear me? David! God damn it, answer me!!" she nearly shouted.

"I'm here! I'm here! Jesus! What the hell was that? I damn near lost my hearing in this ear!"

"Just shut up and listen!" she commanded. "I need you to send whatever emergency vehicles are available to Alex and Laura's location. We've lost contact with them."

"Oh Jesus," was the strangled reply. He now understood what had happened to their communications. "I'm on it. Do you need directions on how to get there?"

Monica glanced over at Frank, and something told her that from the way he was driving like a maniac that he knew exactly where he was going. "I think we're OK there. Just get someone to help ASAP."

"Emergency vehicles have been dispatched. The fire department and ambulances should be on the scene within 10 minutes or so."

"Right. Thanks Dave. I'll let you know if we need anything else. And David…..leave all of the lines open." 

There was a brief pause before he answered, "Understood." She'd just asked him to leave communications open to Alex and Laura just in case they could still be reached by their receivers.

Now that she'd done what she could, Monica once again turned to look at her boss. His gaze ahead was unwavering. His hands were firmly gripping the steering wheel and his jaw was clenched. She swore she could almost hear him grinding his teeth. 

"Frank….."

He turned slightly to glance at her. Something in the tone of her voice had made him look at her, either that or the fact that she'd called him by his first name. He didn't think he could recall a time when she'd done that. He saw the look in her eyes and looked away quickly. She was looking at him with concern, empathy and a hint of sympathy. He didn't need sympathy, from her or from anyone. They'd gotten out in time. He was sure of it, or at least that's what he kept telling himself. If he let himself become overrun by the emotions that were welling up inside of him, he was sure that he'd become unhinged. Laura and Alex needed him right now and for their sakes he refused to be anything but positive and determined.

"They made it out, Monica."

"I…..I'm sure that they did," she answered softly, still watching him. "But what if….."

He turned and looked her directly in the eye, temporarily taking his eyes off the road. "Don't…..don't say it. They're fine. Maybe they got the wind knocked out of them when the bomb went off, but they're fine." He then went back to watching the road ahead.

__

Oh dear God I hope he's right. She'd seen the look in his eyes when he'd stared straight at her. The man was nearly manic. Most people wouldn't have picked up on it, but there was a different gleam in his eyes that she thought she'd never see. He was on the edge of losing control. She opened her mouth to say something else when she heard Jake's voice in her ear.

"Are these damned things working? Anyone?"

"I hear you Jake," Monica replied. "Are you still following us?"

"Yeah. That is as best as I can."

"Good. If you get separated from us, Dave can give you directions."

"OK, we'll see you there."

"Jake and Cody are behind us," she informed Frank. He simply nodded that he'd heard her.

They drove on for a few more minutes in nearly complete silence. Neither one wanting to talk about the possibilities of what might have happened. 

Frank reached into his pocket and put his own earpiece back on and held his hand up against it, hoping to hear something. He was almost afraid to say anything, but he knew he had to try. "Laura? Alex? Can either of you hear me?"

Monica looked out the side window and had to take a calming breath. The sound in his voice had nearly broken her heart. He wasn't just saying their names, he was almost pleading with them to answer. She suddenly had images flash before her eyes. Frank's son looking up at his father with loving eyes or his daughter so snugly held in his arms. She had to blink away tears. Losing a friend and colleague was one thing. Losing a wife and mother to your children was something else entirely. Swallowing the tears that were threatening to fall, she joined in trying to contact her fellow team mates.

"Alex…..Laura……I know you can both hear me and maybe for some reason you can't speak to us. But I wanted you to know that we're on our way. The fire dept. should be there any minute and we'll be right behind them. Don't panic. Help's on its way. We're on our way. Just stay calm." 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Frank take a long trembling breath. She couldn't look at him, so she looked straight ahead and continued talking to the two women as if they could hear every word she said.

As they were getting closer to the plant, they could begin to see plumes of smoke and flashing lights from the emergency vehicles. Winding their way through the myriad of cars and trucks, they finally reached their destination. 

After exiting the vehicle, Frank showed his badge to the many workers on the scene. From where they currently stood, it didn't look like too much of the plant itself was damaged, so they maneuvered their way to the other side of the building. Once they rounded the corner of the structure, Frank stopped dead in his tracks. The back half of the building was gone and the entire five story parking garage had collapsed in on itself. He stared at the scene with wide eyes and his heart in his throat. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he tried to maintain his composure, and after a few deep breaths he came close to succeeding.

He saw a firefighter walking nearby, and grabbed the man's arm to stop him. "Have you found anyone?" he asked hopefully.

"And you are?" the man asked.

"Frank Donovan, FBI"

"Ahhh, so you're Donovan. We were told that you were on your way. And no….we haven't found anyone, but we have a hell of a lot of debris to clear away. It could take us days to get through all of it." Looking around the man added, "If you'll excuse me. I need to get back to work." 

Frank mutely watched the man walk away. He started to feel an overwhelming numbness overtake his body. He heard people talking around him, but all he could do was stare at the two story pile of rubble in front of him, but a touch on his arm brought him out of his trance.

He looked down and saw Monica looking intently back at him. She had an extremely concerned look on her face and he was pretty sure that she had said something to him. 

"What did you say?" he said finally.

"I said that Cody and Jake are going to comb through the surrounding woods, just in case they made it out and they're still unconscious." He nodded in reply and went back to staring at the remains of the building.

Sighing, she decided to let him be for the time being. Honestly, there was nothing she could do or say that would make things better. And that was the way they stayed for the next 45 minutes to an hour. The two stood by and watched the endless stream of emergency workers come and go. The only thing that broke the monotony was when the other two agents returned saying that they'd found nothing, but they had spotted Alex's car still in the parking lot.

Frank walked away from the other three agents. He'd been holding out hope that they had somehow made it to their car and had successfully gotten away. Hearing that the car was still there and that they were nowhere to be found in the area left only one possibility. They were still inside the structure when the bomb detonated, and looking at the seemingly endless piles of debris and twisted steel, he knew the chances of survival were slim to none.

As he was walking away, he heard someone say his name, so he stopped and turned back to the other three. When he saw that they weren't looking in his direction at all, he began to think that he'd merely imagined it and continued walking. 

He couldn't stay still. If he did, he knew he'd be very close to collapsing into a pile on the ground. So on he walked. Not really going far, just getting some distance away from the noise and the endless chatter that could be heard over the police radios. That's when he heard it again. _Oh dear God!_ Holding his hand closer to his ear, he listened intently to the receiver.

"Can anyone hear me?" he barely heard over the din.

"Laura? Alex? I can barely hear you? Where are you?" he asked almost desperately. Monica, Cody and Jake of course heard him loud and clear and thought that their boss had lost his mind.

Jake walked over to where Frank was standing and tried to talk to him. "Donovan. Why don't you go over to one of those police cruisers and sit down for a while. We'll let you know if they find anything."

Frank was shaking his head and walked away from Jake in frustration. With other noise around, he couldn't hear anything. Jake saw this and went after him.

"Donovan, look……"

"Shut the hell up Jake! I can hear them!" he yelled at the younger man.

Jake's eyes flew open, not because he believed what Frank was telling him but because he thought his boss was losing his mind, but just when he opened his mouth to say something, he heard it too.

"Jake, listen to the boss and shut up for once!" Jake looked at Frank in shock. It was Alex and from the way she sounded, she seemed to be all right.

"Oh holy shit! Alex!?!" Jake exclaimed. "Is that you?"

"And who else were you expecting?" she said between coughs.

"Is Laura with you?" Frank asked hopefully.

"I'm here, Frank. I'm OK," he heard his wife say. Frank released a breath he didn't know he was holding. Closing his eyes, he silently thanked whatever deities he could think of for sparing their lives.

"Where are you? Are you still in the garage?" Frank asked anxiously.

"We're trapped under what's left of the garage, yeah," Alex replied. "We were about 15 feet or so away from getting out completely when the bomb went off. We were both thrown into the outside wall before the upper floors collapsed down on top of us."

"Jake, alert the emergency teams that there are survivors trapped under the rubble. Tell them we'll try to get a better fix on where they are," Frank instructed.

"I'm on it," Jake said before running off.

After he sent Jake off on his errand, he looked and saw Monica and Cody both gathered around him with relieved smiles plastered on their faces. Smiling briefly in return, he began speaking to Laura and Alex again.

"Are either one of you hurt?" he inquired.

"I'm OK," Alex answered, "but Laura's leg is broken."

"How bad is it?"

"It's not too great. I think I may have to wear one of those God awful casts for quite awhile." Pausing to cough some more, she continued. "It hurts like hell and my foot is now turned in a direction God never intended it to be in." 

"Any bleeding?" he asked concerned about the amount of dust that was sure to be still filtering down on them.

"We both have some minor cuts and scratches, and we'll have some spectacular bruises to show everyone, but again, nothing major. Just the broken leg and a couple of wicked headaches," Alex informed her boss.

"Were either one of you unconscious for any length of time?" Frank asked, suddenly concerned that one or both may have concussions.

"I think we were both out for a bit. I'm not sure how long though. I know what you're thinking and we'll try our best to stay awake until you get us out of here," Laura answered.

"Good. I'm going to have a talk with the emergency people on the scene and see what we can do to get you both out of there quickly. In the mean time, just stay calm and talk to each other to keep one another awake."

"Understood," they both replied. Then Frank went off in search of the people in charge.

Alex looked around as best as she could. There were chunks of concrete everywhere with pieces of twisted steel intermixed. She still couldn't see very far ahead because of all the dust still hanging in the air. Laura was some six feet away and separated from her by some really mean looking metal girders. If she tilted her head a certain way she could just see between two of the rusted pieces.

"How's the leg?" Alex asked.

Sighing raggedly, Laura responded, "Not great, but I've been in worse pain. How are you doing? Is your head still throbbing?"

"It's not too bad. Kind of feels like my brain was used as a basketball, but besides that…." she let the sentence trail off.

Several minutes went by before Laura spoke again. "How long do you think it'll take for them to get us out of here?"

Again looking at her surroundings, she answered, "I have no idea, but I have a feeling it might be awhile. There were five floors above us and we were actually on a floor that was below ground level, so who knows. Could be many hours or even a day or so. Think you can hold out that long?" Alex asked, concerned about Laura's leg.

"I guess I don't really have a choice, huh? But if I know Frank, he'll probably start digging himself, if it ends up taking too long."

Alex chuckled at that. Her boss was indeed a determined man, and she could just imagine him ordering the emergency team around.

"Well….I guess we might as well get as comfortable as possible. I just wish we had something to drink at least. This dust is killing my throat," Alex remarked.

"Yeah," Laura responded half-heartedly. Suddenly something occurred to her. "Hey! Do you see my purse anywhere? It's a big black satchel type bag."

The two women looked around as best they could in their confined spaces. The immediate problem was that with everything covered in concrete dust, nothing looked like it should. Alex was actually able to move around a bit, staying mindful not to push up against anything very hard in case things might still shift. She suddenly spotted something that looked like a strap, but with the dust, she knew it could very well be some type of wiring. Wiggling her way as close as she could get, she was finally able to snatch the item. It certainly felt like a purse strap, so she pulled carefully until the item came loose.

"Eureka!" she cried out, pulling the purse closer to her. She dusted it off with her hand and held it up for Laura to see.

"That's it! Can you squeeze it through the metal beams? Or is it too big?"

"We'll find out," she announced as she began trying to wedge it through the tight space. After a moment or two of maneuvering, the purse finally fell through to the other side and Laura was able to grab it. 

"All right….let's see what we have here, assuming that the contents weren't pulverized by falling pieces of concrete. Rummaging around for a few seconds, she looked up with a smile on her face. Pulling her hands out of the purse, she held up an item for Alex to see.

"Tah dah!" she said with a flourish. 

Alex squinted trying to make out what it was in her hand. "OK, I give. What is it?" 

Shaking her head and smiling, she handed the item to Alex. Once she held on to the item, she looked at it funny. "A juice box?"

"What can I say…..I'm a mom. We do these things. Hell….I probably have crackers or something in here too."

"You have kids?" Alex asked incredulously. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Donovan was married, had two children and was fooling around with _another_ woman who had children of her own. _This just keeps getting more and more bizarre!_

Laura looked at Alex and suddenly remembered that she didn't know the truth. "Yeah….I do. A boy and a girl. In fact…….you've seen them already," she just had to add for good measure.

The look on Alex's face could only be described as total confusion. _I've seen them already? What the……_ "Holy shit!" she exclaimed as she suddenly realized what the hell was going on. "You….and Donovan? Alicia and Christopher…..those are _your _kids??"

Laura couldn't help but laugh. The expression on Alex's face was priceless. A look of shock coupled with……relief? "Sorry….we just thought it would be for the best if the rest of the team didn't know that we were married. I can imagine what kind of shock this is."

"You don't know the half of it! We thought……." Alex broke off, not really sure how to bring up their suspicions without sounding too nosy.

"You thought what?" Laura asked intrigued by the tone in Alex's voice.

"Well…….last night…….after Jake and I checked out a lead downtown, we kind of…… spotted the two of you together."

Now it was Laura's turn to be shocked and a little embarrassed. "And what did you see….exactly?" she was almost afraid to ask.

"Let's just say that it convinced us that the two of you weren't just acquaintances_. _If you know what I mean."

"Oh shit," Laura mumbled under her breath, sure that her cheeks were now flushing bright red. "So after this afternoon…..you thought……" Suddenly she couldn't contain her giggles. And soon the two were in the throes of uncontrollable, all out laughter. 

"Oh God…..I needed that," Laura finally managed to say after she'd managed to calm down, wiping away the tears from laughing so hard.

Neither woman said anything for several minutes, both lost in thought. But from out of the blue, Alex finally said something.

"So how did you and Donovan meet?"

Glancing at the other woman, Laura knew they were now treading in somewhat dangerous territory. Normally she wouldn't discuss their past, working for the government, it just wasn't prudent, but this was a different situation entirely. And even though she knew that Frank was totally tight lipped about his past, she wanted to talk about it anyway.

"Now that's a long story," she finally answered.

"I think we have the time," Alex responded, looking around at her surroundings to prove a point.

Laura chuckled. "I guess that's true. So….let's see…where should I begin." Settling herself a little more comfortably against the wall, she began her story.

"I met Frank…gosh….it's been almost 13 years ago. I'd just received my doctorate in psychiatry from Princeton, when I was recruited by the CIA."

"CIA?" Alex asked. "What did you do for them with a degree like that?"

"My job was to help agents who'd been undercover for extended periods of time pick up the pieces of their former selves and start their lives over again."

"I don't get it. What do you mean pick up the pieces?"

"Let me see if I can explain this……the type of undercover work that many CIA operatives do, is entirely different than the work that you do here. Some of these agents can stay under for months and sometimes years at a time. Their job is to secure information. So in order to get the intelligence that they need, they have to become the character that they're trying to portray. The contact they have with the outside is minimal and in some instances, impossible. They become the persona they've adopted. They have to or someone could die.

"My job was to help these agents reconnect with who they were before the assignment began. And depending on how long they were under, the therapy could take weeks, months or even years. And that's how I met Frank."

"Donovan worked undercover?" Alex asked a little shocked.

"Yeah he did. When I met him, he had just spent 16 months being part of a drug cartel in Columbia."

"So he was one of your patients?"

Laura smiled. "In a manner of speaking, I suppose he was."

"Huh……is that when the two of you……"

Laura cut her off before finishing her thought. "No. I think that would be considered a little unethical. No, I just helped him regain himself. It was an amazing journey."

"What do you mean?"

"Usually when an agent is under for that long, it's reasonable to expect the therapy to last for many months. The key to it all, is finding some trigger point. Something in their past that sets off all of the memories and feelings that they'd been hiding for so long. Sometimes it can be a song, or a favorite food, a smell, a memory of a childhood pet….almost anything. So the key to the therapy is finding out what that something is."

"Makes sense."

"When I started working with Frank, I was stunned at how quickly it all came back to him. We'd found that _certain_ memory that unlocked it all within the first week of working together. That's almost unheard of. And after that, things progressed rapidly. It was astounding. Next thing I knew, he had totally worked through everything that had happened and was ready to return to work. I'd never met anyone who could compartmentalize their life so easily."

"Compartmentalize?" Alex asked confused.

"It means that he has this incredible ability to separate his personal and professional lives. Most people can do it to an extent, but he's the first person I've ever met who could do it so successfully. In fact….he's still very good at it."

"I don't get it, why would he need to now?"

"While he's at work, that's his focus. 100%. Before ever walking into his office, I could have told you what it looked like. A desk, a chair, computer, file cabinet, non-descript pictures on the walls……but no photographs, no citations, no mementos…..nothing to remind him of what waits for him at home. And conversely, at home, there are no files, no papers, no reminders of what's back at the office. That's how he balances the two distinctive parts of his life."

"I guess I never thought about it. It makes sense, and I guess it works for him." Alex paused to think about all that Laura had told her.

"Soooo…..if you two didn't hook up then, when did it happen?"

"It was nearly three years later. After I'd gotten my second doctorate…."

"Second?? In what?" Alex asked amazed.

"Psychology. What can I say, I'm an overachiever at heart," Laura said with a smile.

"Like I said after I got my second degree, I started working for the FBI as a profiler. I was assigned to a hostage case in Kansas City. Four inmates broke out of one of the penitentiaries and held a bank full of people at gunpoint. Anyway…..the idiot who was originally assigned to negotiate, quickly let things turn from bad to worse. I called our superiors and had him yanked from the job. In turn, they said they'd send in some new hotshot. I was skeptical, but I figured the new guy couldn't do any worse than the moron who had just left.

"So the next day, I come on shift and everyone's buzzing about the new team leader. In the 6 or so hours that I'd been off duty, he'd practically turned the whole thing around. I was impressed and couldn't wait to meet him. The tech-op pointed him out to me. I looked across the room and stared at the guy for a few seconds and kept thinking, 'Geez, he looks familiar.' Then he looked directly at me and I knew who it was. The funny thing was, I almost didn't recognize him."

"Had he changed that much in just three years?" Alex asked.

Laura chuckled a little. "Well, just cutting his hair made a drastic change."

"He had longer hair?" Alex asked curiously.

"Not just longer. I'm talking long!"

"Get out! You're kidding me, right?!?" Alex asked with a squeal of delight. Laura laughed along with her.

"Hold on a sec….." Laura told Alex as she once again rummaged through her purse. After a few moments, she fished out her wallet. "I think I still have it in here," she mumbled to herself. Flipping to the back of the photo pages, she finally found what she was looking for. Laura handed the open wallet to Alex.

Once in her hands, Alex looked at the picture that was face up. "OH MY GOD! Look at that hair!! Holy crap!" In the picture, Frank was dressed in a leather jacket, t-shirt and was sporting hair that easily reached past his shoulders in wavy curls. The other amazing thing was the almost full beard surrounding a dazzling white smile. "Never in a million years…….Jesus! He looks like one of those Chippendale dancers!" At that both women cracked up laughing once more.

When the laughter again died down, Alex began flipping through the other photos in the wallet. There were several of the kids, from birth to ones that were easily taken just weeks or months ago. There was even one of Laura and Frank together all dressed up. And the very last picture was of a boy she didn't recognize.

"Who's this?" Alex asked, holding the picture up so that Laura could see who she was talking about.

Sighing softly, Laura answered, "That's Michael."

"Who's Michael?" Alex asked, once again glancing at the picture in front of her.

"He's our oldest son."

"I didn't know you had any other children. How old is he?"

"He would have been 9 this year," came the soft spoken reply. 

Alex quickly turned her head and looked at Laura. She saw the haunted look in her eyes, and somehow wished that she hadn't asked the question.

"Would have been….?"

"He died of leukemia a year and a half ago." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	11. Michael

****

Revelations

Chapter Eleven

Frank had heard most of the conversation thus far between Laura and Alex, and although he didn't particularly like being the topic of discussion, he didn't interrupt. He knew the two had been through a harrowing experience together, and were doing some type of bonding as a result. So he'd decided to let it go, although he was pretty sure that at some point he'd get back at Alex for that Chippendale comment. But when he heard Laura begin to tell Alex about Michael, his heart tightened, almost painfully. Although he'd lost his son well over a year ago, the wound and hurt was still entirely too close to the surface. He very nearly interrupted and wanted to tell Laura to stop, but something prevented him from doing that. Laura hardly ever spoke of their first son, not even to him. Maybe, he thought, she'll finally be able to open up about what had happened and how it had nearly destroyed her.

He'd just finished speaking with some of the workers on site. He was told that before they could go any further, they needed to know exactly where the two women were, and for that they needed to do heat imaging. After they mapped out their location, then the engineers would take over and guide them on how best to remove the tons of debris essentially burying the two women. Sighing in frustration, he knew that this was going to be a slow and painstaking process. He didn't particularly want to disrupt their conversation, but he knew that he needed to update Alex and Laura on what steps were being taken to free them.

"Laura….Alex…..I've just spoken with the head of the emergency team."

"So when do we get out of here?" Alex asked first and knew immediately that it wasn't going to be anytime soon when Donovan took too long to answer.

"It may take awhile. They're flying in a helicopter right now that's equipped with heat imaging. They're hoping that once they establish your exact location, then they'll be able to come up with a plan on how to get you out of there. In the meantime, there's a whole crew of engineers inspecting what's left of the structure, hoping to get a better idea of where most of the weight of the debris is resting."

"So the bottom line is…..we're stuck here for awhile at least. Am I right?" Alex inquired, already knowing the answer.

"Unfortunately yes. They're also trying to determine if there are any passages down to where you are. If so, even if they're not big enough to extract you, we may be able to get some food and water down to you at least."

"No hurry," Alex joked, "we've got juice boxes and goldfish crackers."

Frank chuckled. He knew exactly where those had come from. It always amazed him at what types of things Laura could fit into that purse of hers. As she'd told Alex, it was a mom thing.

"Just the same, we'll see what we can do. Laura?"

"I'm still here. Just enjoying the lively banter." 

Frank again smiled, but he also heard an edge to her voice that stabbed at his heart. She sounded tired, and he could also hear a sadness to her voice that he was sure most people wouldn't be able to pick up on. "How's the leg?" he asked, naturally concerned about her welfare.

"Actually, it's just a dull throb now and the good news is that I think it's gotten a bit numb. Probably from not moving around at all."

"Do you have any aspirin in that Mary Poppins purse of yours?" He heard her chuckle at that. 

"I don't carry _everything_ with me," she answered trying to sound exasperated with him and not quite succeeding. After rooting around for a second or to, she found what she was looking for. "Ah ha! I do have some. It won't make the pain go away, but it'll keep it at bay for awhile."

"Good. Try to conserve what you have there and we'll see what we can do about getting you something more."

"All right." Looking around at her cramped confines, Laura noticed that what little light they had seemed to be fading just a bit, and suddenly she felt a chill creep up her spine, not from cold, but from something else entirely. "Frank?"

"Yeah, I'm still here."

"What time is it? When I was thrown into the wall, I must have whacked my watch pretty good. It's stopped running."

Glancing at his own watch, he answered, "It's a little after five."

"Oh," was her only reply.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Taking a trembling breath, she tried to imagine what her temporary prison would be like once it got dark. Closing her eyes, she tried to will away the vision, but wasn't entirely successful. "It's….nothing. It'll be dark in a couple of hours, won't it?"

Then he understood. She was trapped in a small confining space, unable to escape and all to soon the darkness would be closing in as well. He'd nearly forgotten. Laura was claustrophobic. 

"Yeah, it will. Why don't you and Alex find something to occupy yourselves. Have her tell you about the time she flipped herself off of her horse when she was trying to play Lone Ranger."

"Hey!" was Alex's indignant reply. "I was only 12 years old! So I was young and a little over eager." Laura couldn't help but laugh at that.

"I think I'd like to hear this story," Laura added.

"Yeah well, stand in line, lady! It's the last time I open my big mouth when I'm trapped on a stakeout with your husband." 

Laura continued to giggle at the images of Alex landing on her backside in the mud. _Isn't there always mud around when you try to pull off a foolish stunt like that?_ She was also thankful for Frank's efforts to lighten the moment, even if it was at Alex's expense. She needed to get her mind off of the confining space that she found herself in. 

"Well, since you don't want to talk about that, I'm sure we can find some other topic of conversation. Don't you think?" Laura inquired.

"I bet we can. Let's just stay away from anything that has to do with horses or old TV shows," Alex added, secretly smiling to herself.

"I can live with that," she replied to Alex. Knowing that Frank was still listening in, she addressed him too. "We'll be OK, Frank. Go do what you have to do to get us out of here."

"All right. I'll check back in with you in a while." And with that, he went in search of the rescue leader, determined to kick this operation into high gear.

The two women sat in silence for a few moments, trying to think of topics they could talk about. The truth was, neither knew the other very well and the only thing they really had in common was Frank.

Alex still had Laura's wallet and once again picked it up to look at the pictures. She immediately flipped to Michael's photo. _My God he looks like his father._ He had dark wavy hair, a dark olive complexion from what she could see and she was assuming brown eyes, but it was difficult to tell in the dim light. The boy in the picture was smiling brightly and she could just see the hint of dimples on his cheeks. 

Laura was a little disturbed by the silence. She needed to keep her brain occupied or she'd slowly go insane. Thinking that perhaps Alex had gone to sleep, she attempted to peer through the twisted beams that separated them. She could see her head was down and she seemed to be looking at something intently. _The pictures._ At that point she didn't need to know which one, she could tell by the expression on Alex's face.

"He looks like Frank, doesn't he?" she asked quietly.

Alex looked up like she'd just been caught doing something that she shouldn't. Looking back down at the picture, she felt an extreme sense of sadness sweep over her. She'd never had a child, but she could only imagine what it would feel like to lose one especially at such a young age.

"He does," Alex finally answered. "When was this taken?"

"That was taken right after he started kindergarten. Right before he was diagnosed." Pausing for a moment she continued. "It's funny really. I associate everything in his life with the progression of the disease. Before diagnosis…….during chemotherapy……..during remission……..after relapse." As she spoke she unconsciously pulled a necklace out from underneath her blouse and started to play with what hung from it. 

Alex felt suddenly very uncomfortable by the topic they'd found themselves discussing once more. It was then that she noticed Laura playing with her necklace and for some reason was intrigued by it.

"What's on the necklace?" she asked.

Laura looked down suddenly, not even having realized what she was doing. "Oh…..it's our wedding rings," she replied holding up the two plain gold bands for Alex to see, one of course decidedly larger than the other.

"Why don't you wear them?" she asked curiously.

"Well…..we did. At first anyway. But even after Frank had switched to the FBI, he occasionally still did work for the CIA. The missions didn't last too long usually, but it didn't mean they weren't dangerous. Before he'd leave each time, he'd take off his wedding ring and ask me to keep it safe for him until he returned. He said it was the most important thing he possessed and he was afraid something might happen to it. So while he was gone, I'd slip it onto this necklace. Somehow…..I know it sounds corny……but somehow it made him feel closer to me." She looked over at Alex and smiled weakly before continuing. "And then when I was pregnant with Michael, my hands swelled up so much that my own ring wouldn't fit anymore, so I put it on the chain along with Frank's, and for some reason, that's where they stayed. Pretty silly, huh?"

Alex shook her head, "No….not at all. It's kind of sweet actually."

"Honestly….I don't think Frank ever actually liked wearing a ring. I think it goes back to separating himself personally from professionally. When he wore the ring all the time, it was a constant reminder of his home life."

"I guess that makes sense."

"So…..ever since then, I've always worn them on this necklace." She ran the chain through her fingers once more and smiled a little. "And actually, the kids always used them as some type of chew toy," Laura laughed. "Michael especially. Boy, he loved to gnaw away on them. Of course I was always so afraid that he was going to choke on them, but he never did. He'd just get pissed as hell when I took them away from him." Both women laughed at that, somewhat uncomfortably.

An awkward silence hung in the air once more. Alex wanted to ask Laura questions, but she wasn't sure that it was such a great idea. Deciding finally in the end, to throw caution to the wind, she spoke up, hoping that she wouldn't hurt Laura any further.

"What was he like? Michael, I mean."

Sighing, Laura responded, "He….he was very bright. Even when he was still very young, I swore he could understand every word we said to him. I remember when Frank used to come home after being gone all day, and he'd sit down with Michael and just talk to him. Not baby talk. He'd just tell him about his day or about where we were going to go on the weekend. It didn't matter. Whatever it was, Michael hung on to his every word. It was the most adorable thing." She paused as she rested her head against the cement wall behind her, losing herself in her memories. "He was the center of our little world. In fact, he had gotten so much of our attention, that I remember being a little concerned about how he would react after Christopher was born. But he surprised us. He was immediately his brother's protector. We'd take them out for walks and if someone approached his baby brother he's stand in the stranger's way with a big frown on his face as if he were daring them to come any closer. Even at the age of two, he understood his role as the big brother." Laura smiled to herself recalling a happier time.

"He was always so outgoing. He loved to be outside in the sunshine and wanted nothing more than to be allowed to play all day long. So shortly after his 5th birthday when he suddenly decided to spend more and more time in his room or snuggling on the couch with me instead of playing, I knew something was wrong. So I took him to the doctor thinking, of course, that it was nothing more serious than a virus or something. The doctor checked him over, said that he was running a slight fever, but said that it would pass. A week or two went by and things didn't get any better, in fact they were getting worse. He didn't really want to eat and if I would have allowed him, he would have stayed in his bed most of the day. So, of course, back to the doctor we went. He agreed that this had to be a little more than just a virus, so he ordered blood tests and noticed some rather large bruises on Michael's back and legs. I'd noticed them, but just wrote it off to being an active little boy. And then we got the call. The doctor wanted to see Frank and I in his office.

"It's never good news when the doctor won't give you test results over the phone. So off we went to receive the reports. He told us that he wasn't 100% sure, but it looked like from the blood work done that Michael had leukemia. I swear Alex, I thought my heart stopped. 5 year old boys aren't supposed to get cancer! I asked the doctor to repeat what he said because I was absolutely positive that I'd heard him wrong, praying that I had. But God wasn't listening that day. 

"A few days later, we had to take him to the hospital to have a bone marrow biopsy, just to make sure and to find out what type of leukemia he had so they would know how to treat it. Alex…..you should have seen him. He was being so brave about it. He knew something was very wrong, but he kept smiling through it all, taking everything in stride. _I _was the one falling apart. This was my baby! Not some nameless stranger on the street. This wasn't supposed to happen to my child!" Laura stopped for a few seconds trying to keep herself from crying.

Taking in a shaky breath, she continued. "The next few days were a blur. We met with an oncologist, hematologist…….it almost seemed endless the parade of people we had to deal with. The bottom line was that Michael had Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia or ALL and needed to begin chemotherapy immediately. So over the course of the next couple of months, our lives revolved around hospital stays, blood transfusions and doctor's appointments, but in the end it all seemed to be worth it, when the doctor announced that Michael was in remission. For the first time in months, I felt like I could breathe again. As his body started getting stronger, my little boy returned and was as happy and energetic as ever. 

"The doctor seemed pretty positive that his remission would last for years and there was always a possibility that it would never return. I clung to those words. Thankful every day that my son was back to the way he should be. But some things……." she broke off as a quiet sob escaped her lips, a few tears streaking down her dust covered cheeks. Taking a deep breath, she tried to maintain her composure. She needed to tell Alex this story, she wasn't sure exactly why, but she did. Maybe it was because she'd never talked to another living soul about it and somehow with the circumstances surrounding them, she felt the need to finally get it all out.   


Alex wished that she could reach out to Laura, but the fallen debris made that impossible. The best she could do was talk to her. "Laura? Are you OK? You don't have to do this."

"I know…..I know, but I want to. God knows why, but I do." Taking another shaky breath, she attempted to continue her tale. "Like I was saying, some things just weren't meant to be. Everything seemed to going along so well. The boys were happy and I'd just given birth to Alicia, who from the minute she was born had her daddy firmly wrapped around her little finger," Laura said with a sad laugh. "Everything seemed as it should be. And then one afternoon in late August, I was getting the kids ready to go to the pool. Christopher was ready, I had Alicia all bundled up and Michael was nowhere to be found. I called to him and I heard him answer from upstairs in his room. I yelled for him to get a move on. A few minutes ticked by before I finally heard him coming down the stairs. He'd put on a pair of long pants instead of shorts. It was almost 90 degrees outside and he was wearing long pants. I told him to go back upstairs and change, and he suddenly told me that he didn't want to go swimming.

"Like I told you before. Michael lived to be outside and loved nothing more than to go swimming, so I didn't understand what his problem was. So I shooed him upstairs and announced that he was going to get changed right away so we could get going. He whined and tried to stop me, and the more he whined, the madder I got. That's when I saw it. I'd just gotten his pants off, when I spotted the large bruises on his legs. I froze and slowly raised my eyes to his. He knew…….he knew what it meant. He was out of remission, and it had only been 8 months. Not years like the doctors had promised.

"My eyes filled with tears and he said…….." Laura couldn't go on for several minutes as she tried desperately to stop crying. Just as she would calm herself down another crying jag would well up from inside her. Finally, she took several deep breaths, and was able to continue, though her voice quivered and she could barely speak above a whisper.

"He said……..'Don't cry mommy, they'll give me more medicine and I'll be better again.' And then he threw his arms around my neck and hugged me as hard as he could. Oh God, Alex……my little boy……my little 6 year old boy was trying to make _me_ feel better. I just held on to him and whispered to him over and over again how sorry I was that I yelled at him. I could hear the baby crying and Christopher yelling asking when we were going to leave, but all I could do was hold on to Michael and beg his forgiveness.

"So instead of the years that we'd been promised, the years that we'd counted on, we'd had only a few months where things had gotten back to normal. So back to the doctors we went, but this time, the chemo and transfusions didn't seem to be working. They tried several different cocktails of drugs and none of it helped for very long. And slowly, day by day, I saw my little boy slipping away from me. I was almost afraid to leave his bedside, because in the few hours that I'd be gone, he seemed to worsen so dramatically.

"Finally, one day, the oncologist pulled Frank and I aside and delivered the news that we'd both been dreading. Nothing they'd been doing for him had helped and they were left with no options. In other words…….there was nothing left to be done. Our son would die…….it was just a matter of when. When I asked him how long he had left, his answer was days…..maybe weeks. He said that the best they could do was to make him feel more comfortable. 

"Something happened to me then. I'm not sure what it was, but I became eerily calm about the whole situation. I didn't break down, I didn't sob uncontrollably. I just went back to Michael's room and pretended like nothing at all was wrong. I could see Frank watching me out of the corner of my eyes, but I ignored him. I wanted to concentrate on my baby and nothing else. 

"As luck would have it, Frank was called out of town almost immediately after that to handle some sort of stand-off in Minneapolis. He didn't really want to leave, but he figured that he'd be back in a day or two at the most. That day or two turned into four or five and on the fifth day, Michael took a turn for the worse. He wouldn't wake up.

"I called Frank immediately and told him to get back as soon as he possibly could, but it was now the middle of the winter and Minneapolis had been struck by a major snowstorm, and there were no flights coming in or going out. There was nothing he could do but wait.

"Less than four hours later…..Michael died. He never woke up, and I never got a chance to say goodbye," Laura stopped once again to try to calm herself down. The last few lines had been delivered in nothing but a hoarse whisper. 

"They…….they took all of the monitors and IV's away and I just……..I just held my baby in my arms for the last time, and hundreds of miles away Frank was stuck in an airport and couldn't get back to us.

"When he finally did make it home 36 hours later, I was inconsolable. He was hurt and upset and I wanted nothing to do with him……..oh God, Alex……the things I said to him………I….I blamed him for Michael's death, as if….as if somehow his being there could have stopped it from happening!" Covering her face with her hands, the sobs overtook her and she could do nothing but wait until they slowly subsided. Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to control her emotions, and from the other side of the twisted metal beams she heard Alex sniffing back tears of her own.

"I'm sorry," Laura began. "I'm not sure why I'm burdening you with all of this."

After a few moments, Alex responded. "It's OK…..really. I've just been trying to imagine all of the hell the two of you went through." A few minutes went by and Alex asked, "Is that why Frank beached himself?"

Sighing sadly, Laura answered, "Yeah…..I was a mess. The therapist needed therapy in a major way. I shut out everyone including my husband and children and I wanted to do nothing but wallow in my own personal loss. Finally after weeks and months of treatment, I was finally able to deal with what had happened. I had a lot to make up for. I'd turned my back on the people that I loved the most in the world and I needed to find a way to make it back to them. Slowly but surely, I've been able to do that."

The light outside was now beginning to fade quickly and the two women could hear people yelling back and forth occasionally, but other than that, it seemed like they were the only two people left in the world.

"Thanks," Laura said quietly to Alex.

Almost startled, Alex responded, "For what?"

"For letting me ramble. It's the first time I've talked about…….what happened. I appreciate you listening. I really do."

Alex smiled at Laura and something passed between the two, a bond had been formed either out of necessity or coincidence, but either way, Laura was grateful. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside, one of the emergency team members was looking for Frank, but spotted the other three agents first. Approaching them he said, "Where's Donovan? He said he wanted to be notified when we were ready with our plan."

Jake looked at the other two and said, "He's….over there," pointing to a man sitting against one of the outer walls of what was left of the building. "But do me a favor…….give him a few minutes first."

The man briefly looked in Frank's direction and then turned back to Jake and nodded before walking away.

Frank had heard every word that Laura had said to Alex. In fact they all had. And somewhere along the line, he'd walked away from the others, needing to be alone. Then they'd all stared helplessly at him as he'd slowly slid down the concrete wall and buried his head in his hands.

Jake wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he'd heard him crying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  



	12. Voices in the dark

****

Revelations

Chapter Twelve

Minutes ticked by, and Frank still hadn't moved a muscle. His team of agents watched over him and were utterly at a loss as to what to do. They knew Frank, or at least they thought they had. But what they did know, told them that he would want to be left alone. It was a lot to handle, listening to your wife pour her heart out and not be able to go to her and provide comfort. 

After a few more minutes, Jake finally took it upon himself to talk to the rescue team comprised of engineers, firefighters, medics and construction supervisors. He approached the group and saw them huddled around what appeared to be a map, a very large photograph and a video monitor. _What the hell??_

"All right gentlemen, what do we have?" Jake asked them.

The man who was seemingly in charge of the operation looked at Jake and seemed a bit confused. "Where's Donovan?" he asked looking over Jake's shoulder.

"He…….this isn't a good time for him right now," he explained to the group, not wanting to get into the real reason. "So tell me what the plan is."

The man hesitated for a few seconds since Frank had been adamant about being included in the decision making. Shrugging his shoulders as if to say 'I guess you know him better than I do so what the hell', he began to brief Jake on what they had found out so far and what they needed to do still before they could even contemplate removing the massive pile of rubble.

"This," the man indicated the photograph type sheet in front of him, "is the result of the heat imaging we did about an hour ago. As you can see here, your two friends are located on the south side of the structure. They're sitting about 5 or 6 feet apart and are separated by these rather large steel support beams. What we're doing now is sending down a fiber optic camera trying to determine where the worst of the debris resides. Because the two woman have been able to see a fair amount of daylight, we believe there may be some sizable gaps in the wreckage and if so, we may be able to just maneuver them out of there without actually digging too much."

"That's not going to be entirely realistic."

The group of about ten men, Jake included, turned suddenly to see who had made the remark and saw Frank standing closely behind them. 

Not waiting for anyone to say anything further, Frank explained. "Alex may be able to crawl out of there, but my wife's leg is badly broken. There's no way she'll be able to maneuver through anything. We'll need to dig to get her out."

Nodding his understanding, the foreman said, "I understand. And in that case, let's see what the fiber optics can tell us." With that he and the others turned back to the monitor. One man had very carefully climbed atop the broken mountain of concrete and was feeding the optical wiring through an open crevice in the rubble. Then from what the others could see on the screen, he could direct the camera where it needed to go. The work was painstaking. After several failed attempts and finding only blocked passages, the team began to fear that the destruction had been worse than how it first appeared. But finally, after nearly an hour, the camera broke through to a rather large pocket of space. Manipulating the camera further, the group suddenly saw what looked like a human figure on the screen before them.

"Alex?" Frank said through the microphone attached to his ear piece.

"Yeah boss," came he tired reply.

"The rescue team is using fiber optic cameras trying to locate the two of you, but because of the fading light, we're having a hard time deciphering what it's seeing. We think we may have you on the monitor now. Wave your hand and we'll see if we pick up anything."

Doing as Frank had told her, she waved her hands around in front of her. The cheers that she heard in reply, told her that they had indeed found a way down to them. But then…..she already knew they would. When she had scrambled about earlier looking for Laura's purse, she'd been able to see blue sky almost directly overhead. The opening wasn't large, but it was possible that it would be enough to fit through. In essence, she could have been free hours ago, but she wasn't willing to leave Laura alone. She was the one that was truly trapped. 

"All right….good. That gives us something to go on. Now if we can find a cleaner route down to where she's at, we may be able to extract her," the team leader announced. 

"That's all well and good," Frank began, "but what's the plan on getting this debris out of the way and getting them out of there?" 

A few of the men cast glances at each other, and Frank knew the news couldn't be good. After a few seconds pause, the team leader finally spoke up. "I want you to see this," he said pointing to the second image lying out before them. "This…..is a type of x-ray. It's real use is to check for structural integrity in older buildings. It can pick up bolts that have rusted through….joints that have become unhinged. What we've used it for here, was to see the layers of debris and more specifically the location of the steel beams that were used for support in the garage."

Frank looked at the read-out in front of him and couldn't make heads or tails out of it. He was hoping and praying, however, that they could. "What am I looking at?" he finally asked.

"The metal of the structure shows up as almost pure white, the concrete as a faded gray." Taking a felt marker out of his pocket, the man drew two marks on the paper. "These are the approximate locations of the two women. As you can see, the majority of the metal fell to either side of them, with three or four rather large beams falling in between. The problem is…….these sections here," he said as he pointed to a lighter gray area on the paper. "These……these are what remains of two of the floors. Surprisingly, there are sections of concrete that are relatively intact. They are, however cracked and the re-bars are poking through in various places. So that………"

"Get to the bottom line," Frank suddenly interrupted. He knew the man had something very bad to tell him, and he wanted him to get on with it.

Sighing, the man straightened up from bending over the sheet and looked Frank directly in the eyes. "The problem, Agent Donovan, is that there are two, maybe three sheets of concrete that are lying perilously close to your wife's position. This concrete's integrity has been compromised. The steel bars that are used to reinforce the concrete are either missing or bent terribly. What we're afraid of is that when we attempt to remove the upper layers, we may actually trigger the others below to fall apart completely."

Frank stared at the man. No emotion showed in his eyes. In fact, Jake thought for a second that he was looking into the eyes of a corpse. No emotion……no warmth……no life…….just an unreadable glaze. "There has to be another way then," he finally said, although his voice sounded almost small and unbelieving.

"We've been over these," the man said pointing to the images laying before him. "Don't you think I _want_ to find another way?"

"But there's a chance that it won't collapse," Frank stated hopefully, his eyes now silently pleading.

"Yes….of course…..there's always a chance."

"So what's the first step?" Frank asked desperately trying to cling to some sliver of hope.

"First, we try to get the other young lady out of there. From what we've seen on the monitor, there may be a way for her to actually climb her way out."

"So let's do this," Frank nearly commanded. 

"All right. We'll need for you to communicate with her."

"No problem. What would you like for her to do first?

The two men then devised a plan to get Alex out so that they could start the real excavation. There was only one problem, though. Alex didn't want to leave.

"What do you mean you're not leaving?" Frank asked incredulously. 

"That's what I said. If Laura's staying down here, then so am I," was Alex's clipped response.

"Alex……I appreciate your loyalty, but this isn't the time for heroics. Get moving so we can start the next step of this operation!" he told her as his voice started to rise in volume.

"I'm not arguing with you about this! I'm staying and that's final!" After that last line she could have sworn she heard her boss growl.

"Alex! God damn it! Stop……" 

"OK…the both of you just stop it! Jesus Christ! You sound like two children!" Laura yelled at both. "Listen…this is the way it's going to be….period! Alex….you're leaving this instant. And Frank…stop yelling! It hurts my head. In fact you're both aggravating my headache to no end."

"But Laura……" Alex began before she was swiftly interrupted.

"Don't Alex….please." Sighing, Laura leaned her head against the cement wall behind her and closed her eyes. The truth was, she did want Alex to stay, but it was purely for selfish reasons. She was scared. Plain and simple….she was terrified. Of course, thanks to the ever present microphones and receivers, she'd heard everything that had been discussed between Frank and the head of the rescue team. She wasn't going to kid herself. She knew her chances of getting out were slim to none, but she'd be damned if she'd subject Alex to the same fate. And then of course….there was the claustrophobia. As night fell, the darkness began to creep in and with it, all of the anxiety that she'd managed to hide so successfully for so many years. "Just go……they're not going to start moving anything until you're out of here. And I don't know about you, but I'm tired, I'm filthy and I want to go home, and that's not going to happen until you get your butt out of here. So do me a favor and move it" 

"But….."

"But nothing. Frank…..she's on her way out." With that she turned to Alex, and with only the fading light to illuminate her, she silently pleaded with Alex to leave.

Alex closed her eyes, took a deep breath and finally relented. Nodding her head, she looked at Laura one last time, smiled weakly and finally began to crawl her way out.

A half hour or so later, Alex finally emerged from the top of the mountain of concrete amidst a smattering of applause. Carefully, so as not to cause an avalanche, she gingerly made her way down the outside and into the waiting arms of her fellow agents. She even got a brief hug from the boss himself. 

Now that Alex was safe, the rescue team could concentrate totally on freeing Laura. The images from the fiber optic camera were studied thoroughly, giving them an even better view of what they hadn't been able to devise from the x-ray alone. After another half hour to 45 minutes passed, the leader announced to Frank that the equipment needed was in place and they were ready to begin. Frank nodded and moved away from the others so that he could have a semi-private conversation with his wife. He knew his team members could hear everything, but at this point he was beyond caring. He figured they'd all heard more than enough to last a lifetime and then some.

"Laura? Have you been listening to all the plans?"

There was a moment's hesitation before she answered in a soft voice, "Yeah…..I heard. They're ready to start?"

Frank heard the tone of her voice and it killed him a little inside. He knew she was scared and it hurt to know that there was damn little that he could do about it. "Just about," he finally answered her. "Do the best you can to cover your face so that you won't breathe in so much of the dust that's sure to fall on you."

"If it's only dust I have to contend with then why am I worried?" she tried to joke.

"They've studied the plans pretty well and they've come up with a plan on how to get you out of there so………."

"Frank," she interrupted him, "if I don't make it……"

Now it was his turn to interject, "Don't say it! You'll be fine. We're all going to be just fine……..you'll see."

There was a very long silence before she answered, "You're right……I'm sure you're right." Frank heard the words but knew she didn't really believe them. Closing his eyes, he sighed inwardly, feeling totally helpless.

"They need to get started now, Laura. Get yourself ready."

"All right…..tell them to go ahead and begin." She did as he'd instructed her. She bent her good leg and brought it up close to her body and then she rested her arms on her leg and tried her best to cover her face.

Frank turned back to the rescue workers. "She's ready."

The foreman spoke into the walkie talkie that was being used to communicate with the crane operator in charge of removing the massive pieces of debris, "All right……let's give this a shot. And remember, the key is to take it very, very slowly. Got it?" 

"You got it, boss," came the worker's reply. 

Everyone could feel the earth tremble a bit as the crane was geared up and began to slowly raise the first section. And as promised, the operator moved the piece at a painstakingly slow snail's pace. After what seemed like hours, but in reality was only minutes the first chunk of debris was completely lifted out of position and cleared away. 

Frank's heart lifted a bit when the first segment fell harmlessly out of the way. Perhaps this was all going to work out. It would be slow, but it looked like it was going to be possible. He watched then in fascination as the crane was returned to its original position and a second piece of rubble was ensnared. It amazed him to see this 20 ton crane pick up these massive bits of wreckage so gingerly and with almost a delicate touch. 

When the second piece was nearly out of the way, the inevitable happened. The segment in the crane's grip began to break apart. The operator saw this and hurried his movement, hoping to get the section out of the way before it fractured completely. And he nearly succeeded. The section broke almost cleanly in half. The first part fell harmlessly out of the way, the second half however caught the edge of the pile of rubble. It didn't fall anywhere near where Laura was, thankfully, but as a result, things began to shift…..and collapse.

"No, no…no…..no……NO!" yelled the foreman watching it all happen almost in slow motion. "God damn it!!" 

Frank too saw what was happening and at first thought the damage didn't appear to be too bad, but when the rest of the mass began to shift and crumble, his heart sank. It seemed to take an eternity before everything came to rest once again. He waited then for the crane to be shut down before he tried to talk to Laura once more.

Walking a short distance away, he put his hand up to his ear so that he could hear better. "Laura? Laura? Talk to me……let me know that you're all right." he waited several seconds and heard absolutely nothing but the sound of his pulse throbbing in his ears. "Laura! God damn it….answer me!" he demanded, covering up for the fact that he now started to feel the icy fingers of terror crawl up his spine. "Laura! I said……."

"I heard what you said!" she finally answered in between gasping coughs. Frank's whole body visibly relaxed. Closing his eyes, he bent at the waist and rested his hands on his knees, breathing deeply.

"Are you OK?" he finally was able to ask. "Are you hurt?"

"I didn't get hit by anything if that's what you're asking, but…….."

"But what?" he was afraid to ask, senses suddenly on high alert.

"I'm….I'm completely in the dark now. There's absolutely no light……none at all," she informed him trying not to sound psychotic quite yet. Her worst nightmare was coming true. She was stuck in a confined space, in the dark with no means of escape. 

Frank heard the edge to her voice and knew exactly what she was going through right now. Not that he himself had ever experienced claustrophobia, but she'd described to him once what the panic attacks were like. But something else bothered him even more…….if there was absolutely no light, did that mean that her air supply had been cut off completely?

As he contemplated this thought, the foreman approached him. "Have you talked to her? Is she still with us?" he asked anxiously.

"Yeah….she's all right, but she says she's now completely in the dark." When Frank conveyed the message to the other man, his fear worsened when the man instantly got a look of panic on his face. If her air supply had been cut off and she was stuck in such a cramped spot, she may not have enough fresh air to last for very long. 

"I'm going to have another image taken of the debris," the man informed Frank. "We need to know exactly how everything shifted. I'll let you know as soon as we have that ready." Frank nodded his head, and the man trotted off.

"Frank…..please talk to me," came her almost strangled voice. She was beginning to lose it and needed someone to get her mind off of the situation at hand.

"I'm here….I'm here. The foreman was just informing me of what the next step was," he tried to reassure her. And he thought, not for the first time, who was going to reassure him?

"Please……it's too quiet……I….I can't stand it," she told him almost in tears.

He walked away from the others and went over to sit on the ground, almost exactly where he'd been before. His only concern now was helping Laura control her quickly spiraling panic. "I told you…..I'm here. I won't leave you alone. I promise. Just take a deep breath, hold it, let it out slowly and then close your eyes. Can you do that for me?"

She didn't answer at first, but he could hear her doing just as he'd instructed. After several seconds, he finally heard her respond. "Ok……I'm……OK……but do me a favor?"

"Anything," he responded, noting that the tone of her voice seemed a little less panicked at the moment.

"I just need you to talk to me about….anything. I need to hear the sound of your voice. I promise that I'll try to work on remaining calm, but you have to keep talking to me. Deal?"

He smiled sadly at that. "Deal. What would you like me to talk about? Anything in particular?" he asked, not sure where to begin.

"I don't care. Tell me about……I don't know……tell me about the first time we worked together."

"Are you talking about after Columbia or during Kansas City?"

"Kansas City."

Frank smiled thinking about that time in his life. He'd made the transition to the FBI and was quickly working his way up the ranks. Work was his life and he was completely and 100% dedicated to it, but then he threw a monkey wrench into the works. He fell in love. "Ahhhh…..Kansas City." Getting himself a little more comfortable, he leaned up against the wall and stretched his long legs out in front of him. 

"I'd just finished up a job in Miami, when I got the call that I was being assigned again. They said I was going to go in and take over an existing job. Try to patch up some damage already done by another negotiator."

"Stupid bastard," Laura commented.

Frank laughed. "Never met the guy, but if you say so. Anyway, I arrived at the site and was quickly briefed by the police captain who'd been brought in to help out. He gave me all the technical details, but he said that I'd need to talk to the profiler to get the backgrounds on all the suspects involved……see what made them tick. That's when I turned around and saw you. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen you in almost three years and there you stood. Almost the last person that I expected to see. I figured that you were probably still working for the Company."

"Same here. I figured you were still running around in some jungle somewhere digging up dirt on the bad guys," she told him.

"No……after Columbia…..after being under for almost a year and a half, I realized that I didn't want to look back on my life someday and regret having not lived that year or so as myself. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but when I was under for that long, I was no longer Frank Donovan. It was like I locked myself away and became someone else for however long it took. I wasn't afraid of the danger……I was afraid of missing out on so much I could have done if I was just me." Sighing, he didn't know if what he said made sense to anyone else.

"How incredibly selfish of you," she pretended to chastise him, but couldn't keep the humor out of her voice.

"I know….awful isn't it," he agreed, chuckling slightly. "Anyway……like I said I turned around and there you were. At first I was at a loss for words. I couldn't describe how it felt to see you again. I was happy…..exhilarated……flustered……"

"You were _not _flustered," she interrupted him. "I'd never seen anyone more in control of a situation. You came in, started issuing orders like you'd been there from the beginning, and got the negotiation back on track in a matter of hours. It was incredible."

Frank laughed. "It was all an act. I was afraid that if I didn't start doing something and soon, my brain would stop working and I'd be useless." He paused, remembering exactly how he'd felt that first day. Closing his eyes, he tried to picture Laura at that exact moment. "Oh, I was completely caught off guard. Not only from seeing you again, but from my reaction to your being there. I had this overpowering urge to walk right up to you and kiss you senseless. I didn't know where that idea had come from, but it was there. When we'd worked together before……sure I thought you were a beautiful woman, but I never really even considered doing anything about it. And then three years later……it was all I could think about. Of course, I was absolutely sure that you'd boot my ass into next week if I tried anything. At least that's what I thought at first."

"And you changed that opinion……when?" she asked him.

"Actually…..I started to wonder about it, when you and I had to spend some time together going over those profiles. We were alone. No one to pretend for. You were going over one of the files and I leaned over your shoulder to get a better look at something you were telling me about, and I thought I heard you gasp a bit. First I thought that I'd just startled you, but then I noticed that you seemed to be blushing, and for some reason it absolutely thrilled me."

"Of course….you thought it was all about you," she admonished playfully.

"Isn't it always," he countered, laughing.

"Usually," she replied suddenly solemn. 

He caught the change in her tone, but didn't say anything. Instead of inquiring, he decided to just continue. "Anyway….working together the next few days was actually incredibly stressful. I always had to watch what I said to you and how I said it. I was so afraid that if I didn't, somehow it would come to the surface, and I knew that it definitely wasn't the right time. So I ground my teeth a bit and continued on like nothing was wrong."

"Yeah….I thought for sure that you could have cared less that I was there. Sure…you said it was nice to see me again, but I had the distinct feeling you really didn't mean it."

  
"Oh I meant it," he reassured her. "I just knew that while we were working on the case, I couldn't say anything. So I waited………"

"Frank?" she suddenly interrupted.

"Yeah…..what is it?"

"I….I feel kind of funny. Maybe it's just the dust or something."

"What do you mean you feel funny? Funny how?" he asked suddenly more concerned than he was five seconds ago.

"I feel kind of lightheaded. Like I said, maybe it's just all this dust I've inhaled in the last four or five hours."

Frank closed his eyes tightly. It wasn't the dust. He was almost positive it wasn't the dust. There was only one reason he could think of…….she was running out of air. He looked in the direction of the men working on the rescue team, they looked to be still going over plans. Nowhere near ready to begin another attempt. Suddenly his stomach twisted into knots. She was going to run out of fresh air way before they'd be able to organize another rescue. He felt like the blood in his veins just ran cold and his heart was beating a mile a minute. _Maybe it is just the dust……maybe??_

"Frank?" he could hear her voice almost pleading now and he'd realized that he'd waited entirely too long to respond to her.

"I'm here. I told you I wasn't going anywhere. I……I just…." he couldn't think of the right words to say to her. She was a brilliant woman. If he started lying to her, she'd figure it out in a second, but could he really tell her the truth……

It suddenly hit her. Like a ton of bricks, or in this case like 10 to 12 tons of cracked and broken concrete, she thought to herself almost frantically. _Oh Jesus!! I'm going to suffocate to death down here!_

"Frank! I'm…..I'm running out of air, aren't I? Oh God……"

"Laura…….baby, you've got to calm down. Just listen to me….it's going to be OK," he told her, trying desperately to keep his own panic down to a low roar. 

"No…no it's not! Don't tell me to calm down!" she nearly screamed at him. "You're no the one stuck down here in the dark with no air!!"

"Laura! Stop it! Listen to me……listen to me!" he tried to get her attention but he could hear her crying now, and he felt totally and completely helpless. "Baby….listen to me," he tried to even out his own tone, hoping that if he remained calm, she might follow suit, "I'm going to find out from the rescue team how much longer it'll be before they can try to get you out of there again, but you have to promise me……Laura? Are you listening to me? You have to remain as calm as you can. If you keep getting upset, you're actually using up more oxygen than you normally would. Do you understand me?" He waited a few seconds and she still hadn't answered. "Laura? Did you……"

"I heard you," she said barely above a whisper, her voice thick with panic, but somehow she'd managed to stop herself from crying.

Frank closed his eyes again and tried to retain what little control he had left. "Ok….I'm going to talk to the foreman. You'll be able to hear my voice the whole time, all right."

"Ok. But Frank……please….please hurry," she squeezed out before another sob escaped her lips, but she quickly hushed herself.

"All right, stay with me," he told her as he rose from the ground and quickly approached the group of men.

Getting the foreman's attention, Frank quickly inquired, "How long before you can make another attempt?"

Blowing air out of his mouth in exasperation, the man quickly looked back at the images in front of him. They weren't good, nothing about them was good. "At this point….I'd say we're looking at another hour or two before we could even try."

"That's not good enough," Frank informed the man in a very clipped tone.

"Look…..I don't like it any better than you do, but these scans tell us that this pile of rubble is shit! I'm telling you…..if we even thought about another attempt without studying the situation further, you might as well just right off the whole rescue!"

Frank moved in closer to the man and spoke in a low controlled toned through clenched teeth, "And what I'm telling you is that we may not have hours or even one hour. She's running out of air……do you understand that? We need to do something and we need to do it NOW!"

The man was shocked. First because of Frank's tone and demeanor and second because he'd almost forgotten what he'd suspected earlier. But the truth was, the revelation didn't change anything. "Mr. Donovan…….I can sympathize…..truly I can, but it doesn't change……."

The man never got a chance to finish his sentence. Frank ripped the microphone receiver out of his ear and threw it a good ten or so feet away, and then grabbed the man and forced him up against the makeshift table that they'd been using. 

"Listen to me, you son-of-a-bitch! That's my wife down there! And you're going to do whatever it takes to get her out of there and you're going to do it now! Not in an hour ……not even in twenty minutes……**NOW**!! I am not going to go to my children tonight and tell them that their mother suffocated to death! Do you understand me?!?!" Frank had a death grip on the man's shirt and was practically shouting at his face from less than an inch or two away. He wanted to cause the man harm in more ways than one and would have possibly done so, but he suddenly felt a pair of hands pulling him away from his intended target. Struggling against the unseen force at first, he finally relented and saw that Jake had been the one to drag him away.

He shrugged out of the younger agent's grip and glared at him, the fire in his eyes still threatening to burn down anything that stood in his way.

"Donovan! This isn't helping anything! This isn't helping Laura! Let the man do his job," Jake then turned and gave the foreman a look that said 'you damned well better come up with something quick or I might just let him finish you off'. 

Frank turned his back on Jake and the others. He wanted to yell until his voice was raw. He felt so completely helpless. Only one other time in his life had he ever felt this way. Closing his eyes once more, he could still remember how it felt to know that his son had died and he could do nothing but sit alone in a cold lonely airport, unable to be with the family that he loved more than life itself. 

The same helplessness threatened to drown him, to pull him down and hold him under. Laura was his life……the other half of his soul…….his heart, and he was fairly certain that if anything should happen to her, he would simply cease to exist. 

"Donovan," Jake said, placing his hand on his boss' shoulder breaking him from his trance. Frank turned and looked at Jake with hollow eyes. Jake didn't say a word, he just handed him his ear mic. Taking the item from his hand, he looked at it momentarily, almost afraid to put it back on. But slowly he did, and turned away from the rest of the group.

"Laura?" he said sadly, no longer able to keep the feeling from his voice.

"Frank……it's no….use…is it?" she said in between labored breaths.

Frank closed his eyes and tried to fight back the tears that were already welling up in his eyes. In the few short minutes that he'd been away, her situation had already gone from bad to worse. He needed to say something to her, but he couldn't find his voice.

"Frank….I need…to tell….you….something."

Gathering whatever strength he had left, he answered, "What's that? What do you need to tell me?"

He could hear her start to cry and when he did, the tears finally started to fall down his own cheeks. He would have given everything he had, everything he was, to be able to hold her at that moment. He would have switched places with her willingly without a second's hesitation.

"I…..I'm so…sorry," she barely managed to whisper in the midst of her sobs.

"Sorry for what?" he asked her quietly.

"For all of the……hell I…..put you….through. For all….the ….things….I said….to you…after…."

"Laura….please don't do this…..you were hurt. I understood that," he told her truthfully.

"I wasn't…..the only……one…that was …..hurting. Was I? But…..I still….pushed…you away……"

"None of that matters now. Do you hear me? Whatever happened, we worked through it. It happened……but it's over and done with. Please don't relive this now. Please….." 

There was a moment or two of silence between the two, both having so much to say to the other, both knowing the words weren't really necessary.

"I….love you….so….much," Laura was finally able to murmur to him, suddenly having a hard time keeping her attention focused.

Frank slowly sank to his knees. He felt like every ounce of energy was being drained from his body. He simply knelt there and didn't care who saw him crying. His life was ending slowly……one labored breath at a time, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"I love you too baby…….always," he finally answered her.

"Always…….." was the last word she said.

Jake turned to face the other three agents and saw that he wasn't the only one with tears in his eyes. He took his earpiece out and saw the others follow suit. Frank needed time to grieve and they would give him the privacy to do so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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	13. Starting a new life

****

Revelations

Chapter Thirteen

****

6 months later…….

Frank sat on the back porch of his house, cup of coffee in hand and watched the sun slowly rise over the horizon. The morning was relatively peaceful, a few birds chirping about was close to the only thing that disturbed his solitude. It was nearly spring and now that it was a bit warmer outside, he loved to come out here very early in the morning and just take time to think. 

His thoughts, however, were disturbed by a rather large blackbird swooping in and landing on his children's newly built swing set. He smiled thinking about how Christopher had nearly driven him crazy until it was completed and ready for use. _When is it going to be finished Daddy? Can I play on it now? Can I play on it later? _Of course, Alicia had joined in thinking it was some sort of game, but not really understanding what all the fuss was about. She'd never had a swing set, so she'd had no frame of reference to go by. She just thought it was a riot picking on daddy. Little did either child know, but daddy was a pushover these days. If they'd asked to have Disney World reconstructed in their back yard, he would have tried to make that happen. 

It hadn't been easy leaving Chicago. Although they'd only been there a little over a year, it had begun to feel like home. But they needed a change, and Frank, for some reason, felt an overwhelming need to go back to Virginia. Maybe it was because that was where his son was buried. The memories weren't all bad. In fact, they'd lived there happily for many years, and that happiness was what he was so desperately trying to recapture.

Sighing, not quite sadly, Frank pushed away the bad thoughts and tried to concentrate on the wondrous, amazing things that he still had in his life. Probably what amazed him most of all, was the outpouring of feelings, emotions and friendship that he'd received from his team (ex-team) back in Chicago. They were no longer just colleagues that he had worked with…..they were part of his extended family now. For so many years, he had fought to keep his private and professional lives separate, but in what seemed like a blink of an eye, that line in the sand had been completely obliterated. They knew practically everything about him now, had seen him when his emotions were the most raw, and honestly…..he didn't care. What he thought would have complicated their working relationship, had actually made it stronger.

He sighed again, knowing that very soon his morning solitude would come to an end. He enjoyed every second of it, relished it, and almost desperately clung to it. He leaned his head back in the chair, closed his eyes, and felt the rising sun gently warm his face. Leaning back a little further, he was able to prop his feet up on the porch railing. He was sitting in an old rocker. Laura's favorite. It was just an inanimate object, but somehow he felt more connected to her sitting in this rocker. Unconsciously, he chose the same chair each time he came out here.

From the open doorway behind him, he heard the beginnings of wakefulness stirring in the house. Smiling to himself, he replanted his feet on the porch deck and rose from the chair. He approached the railing and as he rested his hand on it, a flash of light caught his eye. Glancing down, he noticed that his wedding ring had caught a reflection of the rising sun. He lifted his hand and stared at the ring, his thumb gently brushing its smooth surface. He'd taken the ring off of her necklace and slipped it on, vowing to never again take it off for as long as he lived. Standing there for a few seconds more, he reluctantly turned and moved to the doorway which connected the bedroom to the porch. Once there, he leaned on the frame and just stared at the miracle before him. The smile on his face broadened and warmed his sometimes all too serious features. 

Laura…..she still lay quietly wrapped up in a tangle of blankets and sheets, arms tightly wound around his abandoned pillow. How many times had he thanked God for sparing her life? The number was too numerous to count. When he'd knelt on the ground listening to her desperately try to breath, he thought he had lost everything. His heart had shattered into a thousand pieces and then stopped beating completely, but then from out of nowhere the faces of his children flooded his mind. They needed their mother and he'd be damned if they'd have to live without her. Something snapped inside of him. Thinking back on it now, it almost felt like someone else possessed his body and took over. 

He'd suddenly stood and paced over to where the rescue team was still huddled around their photo images. He'd demanded that they do something immediately. He couldn't recall the exact words he had used, but the intent was crystal clear…..either get your rescue underway now, or I'll dig her out of there myself with my bare hands. 

__

"Mr. Donovan…if we attempt anything….." the foreman had tried to explain.

"Listen to me! She's blacked out! She has no more time! We have fifteen to twenty minutes at the most to get to her! Now! God damn it…..I don't care what you have to do or how you're going to do it………but it has to be NOW!!!"

The foreman's eyes flew open and he looked for a second like he was almost afraid for his own life. The man standing before him was no longer a federal agent. He was a husband desperately trying to save his wife's life. The time for studies and propositions was past. They needed to get to work and quickly…..delicacy be damned. 

Moving away from the crazed agent, the foreman began barking orders to the crane operator and receiving quizzical looks as a result. "Just do it!!" he'd shouted at him by way of explanation.

So the hurried rescue had begun. Piece by piece, the debris was removed, causing endless shifts and collapses. Frank's heart beat wildly in his chest hoping beyond hope that somehow she'd be protected from it all. 

Five minutes…..

Ten minutes……

Twenty minutes went by as he helplessly stood by and watched the team's progress. The mountain of rubble was being slowly stripped away, but would they be in time and would she have been saved from the endlessly collapsing wreckage?

Twenty five minutes…….suddenly one of the workers shouted for the others to stop. A few of the men had scrambled up on top of the pile and had begun to search. When one of them spotted something, the others quickly joined in. He'd seen a pocket of twisted metal beams, exactly like what they'd noticed on the x-ray imaging. Had they found her? He wasn't sure, because so much of the concrete dust had blanketed the area. Leaning in further, using a flashlight, the worker saw what appeared to be a hand. 

The man scrambled in further, mindful of the precariousness of the situation. He could just now reach through the mangled steel supports. Straining and stretching himself as far as he could, he reached out and touched what felt like human hair.

"We found her!!" came his ecstatic shout. "Bring me a circular saw. We're going to have to cut her out of here!"

Frank's heart leapt to his throat. They'd finally found her, but was it too late? Safety to the wind, he followed the other workers up the still shaky mound of rubble. Perched near the opening, he could see the devastation below him. He could just barely see the top of her head and she looked to be more than half buried in the ash and dust. But she still hadn't moved…….

He kept watch as they slowly cut away piece after piece of twisted metal. When most of the way had been cleared, one of the men was finally able to scramble into the cramped space. Gingerly lifting her head, he noted that her eyes were still closed and he reached out to check for a pulse.

He turned his attention to the others waiting above him. "She's got a pulse, but she's not breathing! Help me get her out of here!" Several of the men moved quickly to help out. Normally they would have brought in a back board and tried to lift her out gently, but the circumstances were drastically different in this case. It took 3 strong men to completely unbury her and lift her out of her concrete and steel coffin.

Frank watched the lifeless body of his wife being lifted up and maneuvered to the surface. He looked for any sign at all that she'd be all right, but found none. After a minute or two more, she was finally placed on a waiting gurney and the medics quickly took over. 

He tried to stay out of their way knowing that they held her fate in their hands, but he couldn't help but edge closer trying to get a glimpse at what was going on.

Minute by minute passed and he could see them frantically working on her. He walked a short distance away and crouched down near the ground, his hands clasped tightly together in front of him. He closed his eyes, bowed his head and did something that he hadn't done in a very long time. He prayed. Not for his own survival, but for hers. He'd gladly exchange his life for hers if that's what it took to make sure that she'd live for many more happy years to come.

But as the seconds ticked by, his heart told him that God wasn't listening just as he hadn't when he'd found out that his son would finally succumb to cancer. What was it some priest had told him when he was a child……"God always answers….but sometimes his answer is no." 

Just as his heart was beginning to harden……just as his faith in anything good and decent began to waiver, the still nighttime was disturbed by the most glorious sound he'd ever heard……..a gasping, choking cough.

Immediately he was standing and pushing his way through the crowd of medical workers to his wife's side. He witnessed her frantic efforts to clear the dust from her lungs. Cough after agonizing cough escaped her until she eventually became almost violently sick. The medics turned her to her side so that she could expel the filth. Slowly……so painfully slowly, her breathing started to even out and seemed less labored, but she had yet to open her eyes or acknowledge her surroundings.

The medical team eased her onto her back once more and placed an oxygen mask over her face, which seemed to bring her even greater relief. They continued to monitor her pulse and blood pressure and noted that both were stabilizing nicely. All of this should have reassured Frank, but didn't. Not entirely. He needed to hear her voice….he needed to see her eyes open and alert……he needed to tell her……so many things.

Once the EMT's were convinced that she wasn't in any immediate peril, they quickly loaded her into the nearest waiting ambulance. Frank, of course, went with her. During the whole trip his eyes never left her face. He was desperately hoping for some sort of sign. She was alive, but was there any lingering damage other than a broken leg? She'd been without oxygen for…..how long? He wasn't certain and until she awoke, they wouldn't know for sure.

Once at the hospital, she was quickly taken into a trauma room and checked over thoroughly. The nurses and doctors tried to get Frank to leave the room, but he refused, agreeing only to back away and give them room to work. Something in his demeanor, told them not to push the issue.

Minutes ticked by and still she had not opened her eyes. He didn't need much to reassure him. A knowing touch…..one simple word……a look that said everything that her weakened body couldn't. He silently pleaded with her to please give him some sort of sign. 

The medical staff began to work on her badly broken leg. In their haste to retrieve her from the wreckage, they'd actually aggravated the break and made it much worse than it had originally been. So while their concentration was focused elsewhere, Frank slowly moved forward until he was right next to the gurney. He reached out his still shaking hand and gently ran his fingertips across her cheek. He wasn't sure if the touch was meant to reassure him that she really was there or perhaps to waken her, but the latter happened as a result.

Slowly her eyelids began to flutter and her breathing changed subtly. Frank held his own breath and watched in amazement and fear. Gradually she opened her eyes and at first did nothing but stare up at the ceiling, her eyes still unfocused. Frank reached out to her once more, this time placing his hand gently in her hair, his thumb lightly caressing her cheek. It appeared at first as if she were unaware of his presence…..of his touch, but she slowly tilted her head toward him and blinked several times as if trying to clear away some mental cobweb. Then she focused her attention on him and their eyes locked on one another. Frank finally received the confirmation that he was looking for. Tears began to pool in her eyes and streak down her cheeks, and her lips moved attempting to say something. Frank couldn't hear what she'd said so he leaned down and tilted his head to hear her better. Only one word came from her dry, parched lips………"always"……

Pulling back from her, he looked deeply into her eyes and knew that everything would be all right, as his own tears fell silently.

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Staring at her sleeping form so many months later, he still couldn't get over the notion that this was all just some deliriously happy dream. Since that night, every morning he woke and thanked God that this amazing woman was still a part of his life. 

While he stood there deep in thought, a little movement at the partially open bedroom door caught his attention. He bent his head slightly to see what it was, and wasn't surprised at all to see his now 3 year old daughter peeking through crack in the door. He smiled when she saw him. This was her favorite time of the morning as well, and she liked nothing more than to invade her parents' bedroom at the crack of dawn. She stared back at her father and silently asked permission to enter. Smiling still, he waved his hand at her, motioning for her to come on in. Her little feet padded across the floor quickly as she came toward him raising her arms asking to be picked up. Setting his coffee cup down on the nightstand, he leaned over and accommodated her. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and kissed him on the cheek. 

"Good morning, princess," he said quietly, kissing her back. "Did you sleep well?"

"Uh huh…..daddy?" she whispered to him. "Can we go see the puppies again today?" 

He couldn't help but chuckle. A few days ago, one of the neighbor's dogs had given birth to 6 healthy puppies and his daughter was now officially obsessed. Of course, she'd pleaded with them to let her take one home, but they'd told her that they'd have to discuss the situation before deciding. No surprise, it was the one and only thing on her mind, and Frank had a good idea that their household was going to soon include a four legged furball. _You are such a pushover! _

"We'll see, honey….we'll see. Now….we have to be very quiet and not wake mommy up," he told her as he tenderly eased her down on the bed. She quickly but gently maneuvered under the covers and snuggled as closely as possible to her mother. Frank joined the two most important women in his life, and couldn't help but feel his heart swell just a little more. Just one thing was missing…….

Frank glanced up when he heard another pair of feet treading down the hallway. Christopher stood in the doorway now and looked a little torn about whether to enter or not. He was coming into that awkward age where he didn't want to be treated like a little boy and yet he still enjoyed things like……snuggling with his parents and sister on a quiet Saturday morning. Frank saw the battle waging in his son's eyes and quietly rejoiced when it looked like he'd still have his little boy for at least this one morning. 

Christopher walked to Frank's side of the bed and crawled over his father as Frank scooted a little further toward the edge in order to accommodate him. He pulled the covers up over his two children and just enjoyed being near them. 

"Now how am I supposed to sleep with all this commotion going on?" Laura asked sleepily, feigning exasperation…eyes still closed. Her question was met with quiet giggles. Frank, of course, knew that she'd been awake and probably had been since Alicia entered the room. 

Laura opened her eyes and leaned up on one elbow, looking down at the two children. "And what do we have here? I do believe some critters crawled into my bed while I was sleeping," she said right before she launched into a surprise tickle attack. The two tried desperately to twist and turn away from her, but to no avail, their peels of laughter probably waking every neighbor within earshot. Frank laughed and tried as hard as he could to avoid flying feet, knees, elbows and hands. 

After the attack finally ended and things started to settle down a bit, Frank glanced up and saw Laura looking at him, her eyes filled with the joy and love that he was sure she could see reflected in his own. They'd walked through hell twice now and lived to tell about it. In fact, Frank was fairly sure this was as close as one could get to heaven on earth. He continued to stare into her eyes. He couldn't help himself. She held a power over him that he could never describe to another living soul, and honestly he didn't care to. He wasn't sure what to call it, he just knew he never wanted to be faced with living without it.

"So….who wants pancakes?" he suddenly asked. His question was met with two very enthusiastic I do's. "All right. Go get yourselves dressed and I'll be there in a few minutes," he told them. The two children then scrambled from beneath the covers and flew out of the room.

During the whole exchange, his eyes had never left Laura's. His expression changed slightly, however, once the kids had left. "Come here," he commanded as he reached over and wrapped his arm around her waist sliding her body closer to his own.

"Good morning," she said quietly as she reached her hands up to touch his face lovingly, kissing him lightly on the lips. 

He wasn't satisfied with just that and lowered his head to capture her lips once more. This time, however, there was nothing light and tentative about it. It wasn't a kiss filled with desire and passion, although he felt both, but instead one meant to convey all the love and tenderness that his nearly bursting heart could muster. After several minutes of steadily escalating pleasure, he finally pulled away, slightly breathless. "Now it's a good morning," he said, smiling happily at her.

"It certainly is. Can you kiss me like that every morning for the rest of my life?" she asked, still trying to regain her senses.

His smile grew. "That's the plan, gorgeous," he said jokingly although he meant every word.

"Promises….promises. And yet you go back to work in two days and I know I'll be totally forgotten," she kidded him back. 

"It'll never happen……..the forgetting you part, that is."

Frank noticed that she'd suddenly gotten a very serious look on her face and he was fairly certain that he knew the reason for the change.

"Are you sure about this, Frank?" she asked gazing deeply into his eyes looking for the answer to her question.

Sighing heavily, he closed his eyes. They'd been over this a hundred times. He'd left his position as SOG leader in Chicago for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that it would have been nearly impossible to continue, given the media coverage that had surrounded their last case. After leaving Chicago, he'd contemplated what to do next, when a most surprising offer presented itself, and one which he readily accepted. Next week he would become one of the FBI's newest instructors at its Quantico, Virginia facility. Mostly, however, he'd resigned because he no longer wanted to be away from his wife and children for days and sometimes weeks at a time. They were his lifeline…..his only reasons for taking his next breath.

"Laura…..we've discussed this how many times now?" he asked her almost impatiently.

"I know….I know," she answered softly, absently playing with the front of his t-shirt, her eyes no longer able to meet his own. "I'm just worried that you're going to get bored…..that you'll miss the excitement."

He moved his hand so that he could tilt her chin up, forcing her to look at him. "I don't need the excitement. Please believe that. I'm not sacrificing anything. In fact I think I'm being a bit selfish. I want to be able to see the kids every morning and every evening. I want to wake up with you in my arms every morning…..make love to you every night," he told her, his hand now skimming down her body, working its way under the covers.

"Every night, huh?" she asked, her voice slightly playful and a little husky.

He smiled devilishly at her. "Would you object to that?" he asked as he dipped his head and began to kiss and nibble that sensitive part right behind her ear, the one area he knew to drive her instantly wild. He wasn't disappointed when he heard her breath quicken and felt her back arch slightly toward him. 

"Oh, you are evil," she informed him only slightly louder than a whisper, her hands tangling in his short hair.

He playfully nipped and licked his way back to her eagerly waiting lips, suddenly consumed by the need to show her how much he loved her…..needed her…..wanted her. The kiss began gently, lovingly, but soon consumed both of them. He pulled her almost impossibly closer to him as both of their hands explored, touched, caressed and teased. Just as things were beginning to spiral out of control, they both heard voices float in from the kitchen.

"I want banana in the pancakes!"

"You can't put banana in pancakes! That's disgusting!"

"Is not. Daddy made me banana pancakes once!"

"Did not! It doesn't matter anyways….I want blueberries."

"I don't want blueberries…..they're lumpy."

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

Frank pulled back from Laura and when their eyes locked, they both broke into laughter, either from the overheard argument or because they knew that this morning was not the best time to engage in such activities as lovemaking. 

"I've got news for both of them," Laura finally said, "we don't have bananas or blueberries."

Frank laughed even harder before gracing Laura with one final kiss before rising from the bed and making his way to the kitchen.

Laura stayed where she was for a few minutes more. She heard her husband in the kitchen doing what he did best…..negotiating a truce. _From bank robbers and other criminals to two rambunctious children, now there's a change of pace!_

She thought back on the incredible turn of events in their lives and thanked God herself for the many wondrous blessings that she still kept near and dear to her heart. She had two remarkably loving children who each day never ceased to amaze her, and a husband who had loved her enough to fight for her life when everyone else had given up. All in all, she'd have to say that life was pretty spectacular.

Rising from the bed, she wrapped her robe tightly around her and went to join the rest of her family in the kitchen. She paused when she entered the kitchen, and took a few moments to take in the scene before her. Christopher was dutifully setting the table, and Alicia was standing on her stepstool, helping Frank mix the batter for the pancakes. Glancing at the kitchen counter she noticed a box of raisins sitting nearby. _Ahhh…..so that was the truce, huh? _She couldn't help but smile. 

Life was indeed spectacular with a touch of the miraculous thrown in for good measure.

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	14. Epilogue

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Revelations

Epilogue

It was only 4:00 in the afternoon and Frank Donovan was already heading for home. How many long nights had he put in because of his work over the years? Hundreds? He wasn't sure, but he just knew there were too many to count. This teaching gig certainly had its perks. Being able to head home before the sun set was certainly tops on that list.

The job itself was going well, but he had to wonder if he'd ever been as green as some of these new recruits. On the plus side, they were all so eager to learn, although he did have a few cocky SOB's who were just asking to be taken down a notch or two and he was more than willing to oblige them.

He had to admit, sometimes he missed the challenge of field work…setting the trap and catching the bad guy. He'd kept in touch with his old team and was pleased to hear that they'd found a competent replacement for his position. He'd felt somewhat guilty about leaving, but knowing that they were in good hands helped ease his conscience a bit.

Speaking of clearing consciences, Frank had had a more than interesting conversation with Chicago PD Lt. Phil Casey not too long ago. The man had called out of the blue supposedly to tell him what had finally happened with the bomber's case. He told Frank that there was a correlation between all of the properties, or in some cases people, targeted. The bomber had spilled his guts from the moment he was apprehended and dragged into jail. He'd told them all about the payoffs, kickbacks and all other manner of government corruption that led to the permanent shutdown of the plant. The properties he had targeted were owned, leased or rented by not only former Chicago Steel management but also by the very city officials who had helped orchestrate the whole deal. 

Frank listened quietly and answered that he'd already been informed of the situation by his team (former team). There was a few seconds of silence before Casey cleared his throat and finally got around to what he really wanted to talk about. Frank had been expecting some sort of apology, but was actually fairly shocked by what the police Lt. really had to tell him. That his former FBI boss had actually called Casey and asked him to leak information to the press in order to goad Frank into taking more drastic measures. Frank's first inclination was to call the man a liar, but he could tell by Casey's voice that he was telling the truth. 

After hanging up the phone, Frank had very nearly driven to the FBI's DC office and kicked his former boss' ass into next week. But the longer he thought about it, the more that Frank realized that it would come down to one man's word against the other, if Frank had tried to take any action. With all the self control he could muster, Frank decided to let the whole matter go. It sickened him to think that Craig had put his family in danger all in the name of saving a penny or two. But all in all, he was just happy that he no longer had any direct contact with the man. 

So Frank continued on his way home, but he had one important stop to make before he did so. Turning off the main drag, Frank drove through the large wrought iron gates and wound his way around the curved drive. He slowed and finally parked his car near a small hillside. Glancing up the incline, he saw where he needed to go. Climbing the gentle slope, he stopped beside a stone bench situated underneath a majestic oak tree. Not for the first time, he marveled at how tranquil the area was, almost comforting in a strange way. 

Lowering himself to the bench, he waited a few moments and just let the peacefulness envelope him. Sighing, he leaned forward, his forearms resting on his legs, his hands clasped in front of him and stared at the object in front of him.

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Michael Patrick Donovan

1994 - 2001

Beloved son and brother

Frank felt the tears begin to form at the back of his eyes. He missed his little boy more than he could have ever explained to anyone. Nearly losing Laura had only intensified the feeling. He'd lost people close to him before. Fellow agents, grandparents, friends and even his father, but the pain of losing a child was beyond explanation. A very real part of him had died along with Michael. A part of his heart was gone forever. 

He continued to gaze at the tombstone, wanting to say something, but not knowing where to start. He bowed his head and tried to come to terms with his grief once more.

Laura watched him as he sat alone on the bench. She'd called his work and they'd informed her that Frank had left nearly an hour ago. She knew where he had gone. She didn't even need to think twice about it. Today was the second anniversary of Michael's death. 

Although the pain of losing her son was still very real to her, she knew that her husband was carrying around so much more than just simple grief. He still felt guilty. He still wouldn't forgive himself. 

She gave him a few more moments before quietly approaching him. He sensed her before he even saw or heard her. He straightened up and turned to give her a sad smile, which nearly broke her heart. 

She sat beside him and reached for his hand, cradling it in her own two. Neither said a word for several minutes. She was hoping that he would start. That he would finally say what he hadn't been able to. Sighing to her self, she knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"It's nice here," she said, finally breaking the silence. Frank didn't answer. He just looked around at the area appreciatively, his eyes taking in the gently sloping hills and green trees.

Again several minutes passed and he didn't say anything. She knew now that she'd have to prod him a bit, and just prayed that he wouldn't resent her for intruding.

"Let it go, Frank," she said barely above a whisper as she leaned closer to him.

Frank's head turned quickly to look at her, and she thought for a few seconds that she'd picked the entirely wrong thing to say. At first he didn't respond, he simply turned back to staring at the headstone.

"I should have been there," he finally returned. 

Laura closed her eyes and relaxed slightly. _Go on Frank……say what you need to say._

"I should have never left," he continued. "I should have told them to go to hell when they asked me to take the job. But I didn't…..I thought I had time." Stopping suddenly, he shook his head. "No…that's not entirely true. I…..didn't want to deal with it. I needed something to occupy my mind, so I let them talk me into going." He stopped once again, tried to disengage his hand from hers, but she wouldn't allow it. Instead she would her arm around his, grasped his hand between the two of her own and held on as tightly as she could, silently pleading with him to finally get it all out.

He took a shuddering breath before he finally continued. "I practically ran to get on the plane. The moment I was on the job, I could focus on something else. I could try to make _something_ better. At the hospital, I felt completely helpless. There was nothing I could do for Michael, and it killed me. After the doctor sat down with us and gave us the news that our son would die in a matter of days or weeks, you started to shut me out and I let you. I should have forced you to accept what was happening, but I didn't. So I ran. I took the first flight out and let my mind become enveloped by something else that had nothing to do with blood transfusion, IV's, cancer or death.

"My son lay dying in a hospital bed and I ran like a coward, and I left you to deal with it on your own." He stopped once more and tried to control his breathing, his emotions. "I should have been here, Laura……for both of you."

"We both reacted badly to it. I shut out anything that had nothing to do with Michael and you ran in the other direction. I pushed you away and accused you of being the cause of it all. Frank….the things I said to you," she told him, her voice becoming raspy with emotion, "such unforgivable things. I wouldn't have blamed you for never coming back." 

He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer to him. They'd both made mistakes, he realized but could he really ever forgive himself for not being there when it mattered the most. 

Laura raised her head and looked at Frank. He saw the tears falling down her cheeks and raised his hand to gently wipe them away. "Let it go, Frank," she told him again. "It's been two years. We've both been through hell and I don't ever want to go back. Please, Frank," she nearly pleaded with him. 

He stared into her eyes still glistening with tears and couldn't believe how much he loved her. She was right, they had both been through hell, and lived to tell about it. He'd promised himself after she was rescued that he would spend the rest of his life making her happy. Maybe this was the first step…..the largest step he could take to making that happen.

He didn't say a word, but she saw something change in his eyes. He'd decided something….come to some agreement within himself, and his eyes burned a little brighter than they had just seconds ago. 

Smiling, she touched her hand to his face and placed a tender kiss on his lips. She turned her attention back to Michael's headstone and drew in a ragged breath.

"You know," she began, "when I was stuck under all of that rubble and I thought for sure that there was no way that I was going to get out in time, the only thing that really comforted me was thinking that maybe I'd get to see my little boy soon. I sometimes wonder if he misses us half as much as we miss him." The tears began to flow down her cheeks once more before she continued. "I hate to think of him being all alone without us," she said as a small sob escaped her lips.

"Ssshhhh…….it's OK, baby," he whispered to her as he held her tighter. "He's not alone. I like to think that he's got three grandparents there spoiling him rotten." Laura had to laugh at that. Frank's father had died when Frank was just fourteen, her mother right after her 21st birthday and her father just 9 years ago. She liked the idea of their parents looking after him. Somehow it made the separation a little more bearable.

The two sat there for a few minutes longer, before deciding that it was time to go. Releasing his hold around his wife, Frank rose and helped Laura to her feet. With one last look, the two began to walk away, but Frank stopped suddenly and turned back.

Laura seemed a bit puzzled by his actions, but she understood when she could just barely hear his voice over the rustling of the wind through the trees. "I love you Michael….always. We'll see you again….a few years down the road. Don't forget us."

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A/N : I want to sincerely thank all who read this story and a special thank you to the ones who left me such kind messages! I very much appreciate it!

A special thanks to Deana, Marie, Shel, Dawn, Nicky, Cindy, and Serena who left reviews for every (or almost every) gosh darned chapter! THANK YOU!!!

You guys is the best!!!

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